Arabica coffee hits lowest in 1-1/2 year

March arabica coffee settled down 7.15 cents, or 4.5%, at $1.509 per lb​​, having hit a low of $1.4910. It was the first time arabica traded below the $1.50 level since early July 2021.

Favourable weather in top producer Brazil, where rains have been constant over the main coffee belt of South Minas Gerais, and rising exchange stocks are weighing on arabica.

Dealers noted, however, the market expects some buying in the market related to rebalancing of some funds that track commodities indexes such as BCOM and GSCI.

“We expect this buying to bring coffee futures back to $1.75,” said a dealer.

March robusta coffee LRCc2 fell $20, or 1.1%, at $1,840 a tonne.

Top robusta producer Vietnam’s 2022 coffee exports rose 13.8% year on year in 2022, data showed.