COLOMBIA COFFEE GROWERS HURT BY LOW PRICES

By

www.buyorganiccoffee.org

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Colombia, the second-largest

supplier of Arabica coffee

beans, said a slump in prices is

putting at risk next year’s

recovery in its harvest.

By www.buyorganiccoffee.org


A prolonged drop poses a

“serious danger” because some

farmers are losing money at

current prices, Mario Gomez, a

member of the board of

Colombia’s National Federation

of Coffee Growers for about three

decades,



said in a telephone interview

from the city of Manizales in the

nation’s central coffee- farming

region.



“That’s the death of coffee

production,” Gomez said.

“Losses lead to crops being

neglected and then abandoned.”



Coffee has declined 16

percent in a month on

speculation supplies will

increase from Brazil, the top

producer of Arabica coffee

favored by brewers such as

Starbucks Corp. (SBUX)



The Colombian federation’s Chief

Executive Officer Luis Munoz

forecast last month that 2013

output may rebound to a five-

year high of 9 million bags as

disease-resistant crops aid

production.



Arabica-coffee futures for

September delivery, slid 2

percent to close at $1.5105 a

pound on ICE Futures U.S. in

New York.



The crop this year, which is being

harvested, will be similar to 2011,

Munoz said in May.



Last year, the nation’s production

of 7.81 million bags slid to a 35-

year low after above-average

rainfall damaged crops.



Each bag weighs 60 kilograms

(132 pounds).



Weather in coffee-producing

regions has been drier this

quarter after an end to the

weather system La Nina, Gomez

said.



The weather pattern caused an

increase in storms that

contributed to the lowest

Colombian production since

2009.



A shortage of quality coffee

beans after production slid in

Colombia may prompt prices to

increase as global demand rises,

he said.



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COLOMBIA COFFEE GROWERS HURT BY LOW PRICES