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Futures prices for Brazil’s 2022 arabica coffee harvest rose past $2 a pound last week, a level not seen since October 2014, as freezing temperatures frosted crops in the country’s three largest growing regions and sparked fears of a poor yield.
Frosts were worse than predicted; temperatures fell as low as -5°C, or 23°F. Even a slight drop in temperature can wreak serious damage on coffee plants, growers told the Financial Times.
Prices rose 30 percent last week and have gained 60 percent so far this year.
“The damage from frost is much worse than we could have imagined and is resulting in a worsening outlook for the 2022-2023 crop potential, which, coming after [this year’s] small, drought-damaged crop, is very worrying,” Kona Haque at commodities firm ED&F Man told the FT.
Analysts expect the next crop to be at least 5 to 10 percent smaller than the most recent one, the FT noted.
More cold weather was predicted for Brazil this week.
TRENDPOST: We note this article to again illustrate the depth and width of inflation and how it will affect the general public.