Coffee Rises Most Since August as Demand Gain Keeps Supply Tight

Coffee futures rose the most since August on signs of increased demand, including from Brazil, the world’s largest grower and exporter.

Inventories at European ports fell by 0.1 percent to 13.64 million bags as of Aug. 31, the European Coffee Federation said today. While farmers in Brazil may harvest a record crop in
2012, an exporter group said shipments in the past 12 months through September jumped 11 percent from a year earlier. The Brazilian Association of Coffee Industries forecasts
domestic consumption may grow more than 4.7 percent.

“Even if Brazil comes out with a huge crop, as many expect, that would just be enough to meet export obligations and internal demand and replenish some of the dwindling inventories,”
Marcio Bernardo, an analyst at Newedge Group in New York said in a telephone interview.
Arabica coffee for December delivery rose 3.6 percent to settle at $2.3765 a pound at 2 p.m. on ICE Futures U.S. in New York, the biggest gain for a most-active contract since Aug. 17.
Global coffee consumption rose 2.3 percent to 135 million bags in 2010, with usage in exporting countries jumping 4.2 percent, the International Coffee Organization said on Oct. 11.
Growth in importing countries was 1.5 percent, according to the ICO.
The commodity has gained 28 percent in the last year