Colombia reported a seven-year high for coffee production in January and Brazil reported record green coffee exports for 2014.
The Colombian Coffee Growers Federation (FNC) reported an 8% increase to 1.1 million bags in January, the highest tally since 2004-05. The FNC estimated yield per hectare at 15.4 bags. The monthly harvest brought $218.5 million. Colombia recently increased its domestic price to farmers by 79% to $321.5 for 125 kilos ($1.12 per pound) for dry parchment coffee.
CONAB’s first 2015 crop estimate for Brazil is between 44.1 and 46.6 million 60-kilo bags of robusta and arabica. The arabica estimate is 32.3 to 33.6 million bags. Production may fall in 2015 due to cold temperatures during the flowering period and lingering damage from last year’s drought, according to CONAB. Brazil exported a record $6 billion of coffee last year, up 31.84% compared to 2013. Volume was 33.1 million bags in 2014.
Coffee prices are again climbing on scarcity as Vietnam’s crop declined. India’s coffee exports fell 27% in January. March ICE contracts were trading around $1.60 per pound.