Arabica prices drop in March while Robusta prices rise: ICO

Arabica prices continued to drop in March while Robusta prices increased, according to the International Coffee Organisation's (ICO) monthly report. The ICO reported that its composite indicator fell to US$167.77 cents/pound compared to $182.29 in February, representing a drop of 8 per cent. The organisation also noted that the price indicator is at its lowest monthly level since October 2010. “This indicates that the marked downward corrections in Arabica prices has a negative effect on the monthly average of the ICO composite indicator price,” the report said. “An expected increase in the supply of Arabicas may have contributed to the decrease in prices.  However, despite the better crop expected in Brazil for crop year 2012/13, there is limited prospect of significant production increases in other countries.” Colombian Milds dropped to 8.7 per cent, Other Milds 10.2 per cent, and Brazilian Naturals to 10.8 per cent. The prices of Robustas, however, has increased slightly of 1.6 per cent to US$103.57 compared to $101.93 in February. As the differentials between the three Arabica groups and Robustas narrow, trade between the New York and London future markets has fallen 21.1 per cent. The report noted that total product in crop year 2011/12 is estimated at 131 million bags, representing a fall of 2.4 per cent compared to 2010/11. “This fall is attributable mainly to production decreases in the regions of Asian and Oceania and South American,” the report said. It attributed the decline in production in crop year 2011/12 to adverse weather conditions in several exporting countries. Nine million bags were exported during February 2012, bringing the cumulative total for coffee year 2011/12 (October 2011 to February 2012) to 41.5 million bags. Compared to the same period for the coffee year 2010/11, which produced 42.3 million bags, these figures represent a decrease of 1.8 per cent.