Coffee Prices End Year Low
The composite indicator of coffee prices averaged $1.14 per pound in December, down 2.8% from November, ending the year on a 22-month low, according to the International Coffee Organization (ICO). In January 2018 the composite rose by 1.4% to $115.60 per pound, a 1.4% increase.
Prices for all groups were off at year end with the monthly robusta average falling 4.1%. Robusta recovered somewhat in January, rising $1.2%. Colombian milds were down 3.2% in December but gained 1.5% in January.
Global shipments in December totaled 10.62 million 60-kilo bags, up 0.7% compared to December 2016.
Shipments for the first quarter of the coffee harvest are down 6.7% to 28.36 million bags.
Global coffee output for 2017-18, meanwhile, is preliminarily estimated at 158.93 million bags, 0.8% higher than last year. Arabica production is provisionally estimated at 97.32 million bags. Robusta production is tentatively estimated to be 8.2% higher than last year at 60.09 million bags. That estimate, in large part, is based on expected growth in Vietnam.