Coffee Price Expected to Rise Amid Concerns Over Coffee Bean Supply Disruptions

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jae-hee] As coffee bean inventories decrease, wholesale coffee prices in the United States are rising, raising concerns that supply disruptions could worsen further due to a shortage of shipping containers.

According to Bloomberg on the 23rd (local time), coffee bean inventories in the U.S. last month fell 8.3% compared to the same period last year, marking the lowest level since 2015.

The price of Arabica coffee futures traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) has surged 24% since the end of October last year.

Market insiders noted that although cafes hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic have not yet raised coffee prices, if demand recovers, the coffee shortage is likely to worsen, leading to price increases.

In fact, brokerage firm Marex Spectron has revised upward the global coffee shortage for this year and next from 8 million bags (1 bag = 60 kg) to 10.7 million bags, reflecting the forecast of deteriorating coffee crop conditions in Brazil.

Goldman Sachs also predicted, "Considering the possibility of demand recovery, if production in Central America does not increase over the next few years, the coffee market will fall into a structural supply shortage."

Dynamo, Brazil's largest coffee company, reported that maritime logistics are congested to the point that exports are delayed due to a lack of containers.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.