Arabica coffee slides on weakness in Brazilian real

* March arabica coffee was down 2.80 cents, or 2.4 percent, at $1.1470 per lb.

* Dealers said the market was weighed partly by a weakening in Brazil’s real currency. A weaker real weighs on prices because it increases local currency returns on dollar-traded commodities, encouraging Brazilian producers to sell.

* January robusta coffee was down $17, or 1.0 percent, at $1,668 a tonne.

* Dealers said the harvest in top robusta producer Vietnam was gathering pace, helping to keep the market on the defensive.