Colombian Agriculture Minister Says Fungus Will Affect 2011 Coffee Crop

By Heather Walsh and Rodrigo Orihuela–

Colombia, the second-largest producer of Arabica coffee, said a fungus that damages plants may reduce coffee production next year, a day after the nation’s coffee federation cut its forecast for this year’s harvest.

Output this year will be 9.5 million bags, Agriculture Minister Juan Restrepotold reporters today in Bogota, in line with yesterday’s estimate of this year’s crop from Colombia’s National Federation of Coffee Growers.

Coffee rallied about 30 percent in the past 12 months after Colombia’s harvest last year fell to 7.8 million bags, the smallest since 1976, curbing global supplies.

In November, monthly production may surge in Colombia to 2.5 million bags because growing conditions have improved, Finance Minister Juan Carlos Echeverry, who is a member of the Federation, told reporters yesterday in Bogota.

Arabica-coffee futures for December delivery dropped 1.2 cents, or 0.6 percent, to $1.864 a pound as of 2:03 p.m. in New York.