Colombia’s Coffee Crop

Colombia’s coffee production may be 9 million bags in the 2012-13 season, according to commodity research company J. Ganes Consulting LLC.

The Andean nation’s coffee output has dropped from a peak of 12.5 million bags in 2007-08 after damaging rains, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Roasters that switched to other beans may not turn back to Colombia because they are more flexible on their blends, Judy Ganes-Chase, president of Katonah, New York-based J. Ganes said. Colombia also faces falling domestic coffee consumption, she added.

“Colombia has not seen the success other producers have seen in increasing domestic consumption,” she said at a conference in Geneva today.

The country has “minimal stocks” and is likely to benefit from a possible El Nino, a warming of the Pacific Ocean that brings dry weather to some parts of the Andean nation, she said.