Southern planters hopeful of good prices for coffee

BANGALORE: The middle of October sees export contracts being firmed up for shipments of India���s new Arabica crop, whose arrivals begin in November-December.

However, ever since Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy in mid-September after taking a big and long position on coffee, Arabica futures on the New York-based Inter Continental Exchange (ICE) have been steadily falling to an extent where roasters in India���s main market of Europe have made enquiries but not firmed up contracts.

However, the mood at a press conference hosted here on Monday by the planters��� association of India���s main coffee-growing state of Karnataka remained upbeat.

It was business as usual for Karnataka Planters��� Association (KPA) chairman C M Pemmaiah and the United Planters��� Association of Southern India (Upasi) president D P Maheshwari, who were looking forward to celebrating the KPA���s golden jubilee.

Pemmaiah���s predecessor Bose-Mandanna noted that Arabica coffee futures prices had plummeted from $1.50 a pound-weight to $1.10 in the last three months, with Robusta futures dropping from $2,600 a tonne to $1,570 in the same period.

However, Upasi coffee committee chairman Shaji Philip and Upasi executive committee member Vijayan Rajes were confident that prices would start picking up, based on the fundamentals of global supply and demand and the absence of carry-over stocks from the previous year.