International Coffee Organization (ICO) Executive Director Nester Osorio in his latest coffee market report, said imports reached a record level in 2007.
Demand is thus the main factor influencing the market, at present. During the first six months of the coffee year 2007-08, exports from Brazil and Vietnam were considerably lower.
Imports during calendar year 2007 totalled around 100 million bags (1 bag=60 kg), its highest ever. This is an indication of the rapid growth in world coffee consumption and an important factor for the firmness of prices, he added. The downward adjustments to Arabica prices recorded in March were extended to all groups of coffee in April.
The average of the ICO composite indicator price for April fell to 126.55 cents per pound, compared with136.17 cents in March. Despite this decrease, price levels are still firm and price volatility has become less intense. Average prices in the first four months of 2008 are higher than those recorded during previous months.
Exports during of March (8.7 million bags) were higher than those recorded in February (7.7 million bags). However, exports during the first six months of coffee year 2007-08 fell by 4.9 per cent compared to the same period in coffee year 2006-07.
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New estimates of Brazilian production for 2008-09 have been just released. This establishes the size of the crop at 45.5 million bags, comprising 34.7 million bags of Arabicas and 10.8 million bags of Robustas.
"On the basis of information received from Brazil and other data, I can revise my preliminary estimate of world production for 2008-09 to around 127 million bags," said Nester Osorio.