Colombia's 2017 coffee output could fall due to cloud cover

[Judi Lynn]

Fri Jul 7, 2017 | 2:36pm EDT


Colombia's coffee crop may fall below 14 million 60-kg bags this year due to cloud cover that slows the flowering of trees in the main producing regions of the Andean nation, the head of the coffee growers' federation said on Friday.

Colombia, the world's third largest coffee producer after Brazil and Vietnam, recorded a harvest of 14.2 million bags in 2016, the highest in the last 23 years. For this year, a harvest of at least 14.5 million bags was expected.

"I'm very afraid for the second half of the year," Roberto Velez, head of the National Coffee Growers Federation, told Reuters. "I think we're going to be under 14 million bags."

Colombia's coffee harvest fell 3 percent in the first half compared with the same period in 2016, to 6.37 million bags, mainly due to rainfall and cloudiness in the producing areas.

More:
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-colombia-coffee-output-idUSKBN19S2P3?rpc=401&

[Judi Lynn]

1. Cofco Sees Risk Of Coffee Shortages On Colombia And Brazil Crops

Published on Jul 7 2017 1:42 PM in Supply Chain tagged: Coffee / Cofco / Colombia / Robusta


The coffee market could face shortages next season amid risks for Colombia’s crop and with top grower Brazil in the lower-yielding part of a two-year cycle, according to Cofco International Ltd.

Heavy rains and lower prices are delaying harvesting and sales of the mid-crop in Colombia, the second-largest producer of the arabica variety favored by Starbucks Corp. The rain delayed maturation of plants and has led to smaller and more dispersed flowering for the next crop, which could curb harvest potential, said Joseph Reiner, global head of coffee at the trading arm of China’s top food company.

Any reduced supply from Colombia would add to smaller output from top grower Brazil, which is currently gathering this year’s crop. Global production will fall short of demand by 4.4 million bags in the 2017-18 season that starts in October in most countries, Marex Spectron Group Ltd. estimates, and Cofco’s forecast is close to that, Reiner said, declining to provide an exact figure.

“This delay to the mid-crop is a function of excess rainfall and prices that aren’t providing the necessary incentive for farmers to sell,” Reiner said in a phone interview Tuesday. “All of this stresses plants and when we saw similar situations in the past, the following harvest was impacted. We have raised a red flag for the next main crop.”

More:
https://www.esmmagazine.com/cofco-sees-risk-coffee-shortages-colombia-brazil-crops-2/45907

[TexasProgresive]

2. Oh my, covfefe!