Coffee Falls to Lowest in Month on Brazil ’Monster’ Crop

Coffee futures in New York slumped to the lowest in a month on signs that supply will outweigh demand due to a record crop in Brazil, the world’s largest grower and exporter.

In the year that started Oct. 1, world coffee production is estimated at 144.5 million bags, a 7.3 percent increase from a year earlier, with most of the gains coming from a bumper crop in Brazil, according to the London-based International Coffee Organization. Brazil’s 2013 output may reach 50.2 million bags, even as trees enter the lower-yielding half of a two-year cycle, compared to the 2012 record of 50.8 million, the country’s Agriculture Ministry said.

“This Brazil crop is going to be a monster,” Joe Scaduto, a coffee broker at New York-based JPS Commodities LLC, said in a telephone interview.

Arabica-coffee for March delivery fell 1.2 percent to $1.4235 a pound at 11:18 a.m. on ICE Futures U.S. in New York, after touching $1.4185, the lowest since Dec. 31. Prices have fallen 35 percent from a year ago.

Also in New York, cocoa futures for March delivery slid 0.7 percent to $2,230 a metric ton, after a 2.5 percent gain yesterday.