ICE Coffee Futures Close Higher for 3rd Consecutive Session by FC Stone

Arabica coffee futures closed higher on Tuesday supported by the currencies. The active contract for December delivery settled  55 points higher at 128.10 cents a pound. The change in open interest confirmed speculative short covering in yesterday’s price action, decreasing by 2,971 lots to a total of 191,797. The volume was moderate with 25,490 lots traded. The recovery of the real against a weakening dollar discouraged producers from selling, who now believe the action could be  over  stated.  The  real  against  the  dollar  was  trading  at  BRL  3.8272,  a  level  not  seen  since  September  15 th .  A  more optimistic sentiment about the economic measures taken by the government supported the currency as well. In addition, Brazil’s ministry of agriculture approved a 201.5 million real financing program to finance coffee production operations to those who operate with the Coffee Defense Fund (Funcafe). At the same time, the peso in Colombia recovered sharply, trading at COP2,920 for the first time since August 12. The delay of the decision to increase the interest rates by the FED helped  the  emerging  market  currencies  overall.  The  Colombian  coffee  exports  increased  by  32  per  cent  in  September reaching 1.1 million bags, in comparison with the 826,00 bags exported in September 2014.  In addition, production for Colombia  increased  16%  during  the  month  of  September,  also  1.1  million  bags,  in  comparison  with  the  912,000  bags produced in September of last year. The renovation program and better weather contributed to the increment. During the October 2014- September 2015 coffee year, Colombia produced over 13.3 million bags, 10% more than during the previous
coffee year.