The Changes in Global Coffee Production in the First Few Months of 2018

Global coffee production, in 2018, is estimated at 159.66 million bags, 1.2% greater than last year:

  • Production in Africa is estimated as 2% higher, at 17.66 million bags
  • Asia & Oceania, 10% higher, at 49.49 million bags
  • Mexico & Central America, 7.1% higher at 21.92 million bags

Regarding coffee prices, in April 2018, the price of all three Arabica groups had fallen. Indeed, as reported by the data below:

  • Brazilian Naturals fell by 0.9% to 118.76 US cents/lb
  • Other Milds decreased by 0.5% to 134.34 US cents/lb
  • Colombian Milds fell by just 0.1% to 139.29 US cents/lb
ICO group indicator daily prices:

ICO group indicator daily prices

In regards to the Robusta price, the monthly average rose by just 0.1% to 88.31 US cents/lb. In April, the New York and London future markets measured a fall in the average arbitrage by 2.4% to 40.81 US cents/lb. Meanwhile, the intra-day volatility of the ICO composite indicator price decreased by 0.3 percentage points to 4.0%.

Finally, concerning global coffee exports, there was a decline of 0.9%, from 10.91 million in March 2017 to 10.81 million bags in March 2018. This fall was due to decreased shipments of Arabica, particularly Colombian Milds.

  • Exports of Colombian Milds were 11.5% lower in March 2018 at 1.16 million bags and 10.1% lower at 7.34 million bags for the first six months of 2017
  • Exports of Other Milds also fell in March 2018 to 2.49 million bags, 1.3% lower than in March 2017

Robusta exports were 6.7% higher, at 4.48 million bags in March 2018, compared to the same period last year.

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