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More Coffee Moisture - Rains in Brazil
Rains in Brazil's Espirito Santo state, the world's biggest producer of robusta coffee after Vietnam, will resume next week after two weeks of dry weather, an analyst said.
The north of Espirito Santo, where two-thirds of Brazil's robusta is grown, will start receiving showers for several days as early as March 18, said Ana Avila of the University of Campinas. The area hasn't received rain since March 6, she said.
"Next week moisture will increase," Avila, a weather forecaster at the university, said in a telephone interview from Campinas, Brazil. "The chances of rains will be high."
The outlook for more rains in Espirito Santo helps allay concerns that prolonged dry weather could weaken coffee trees that farmers will start harvesting next month, Avila said.
Showers in the north of Espirito Santo this month will likely bring 100 millimeters (4 inches) to 150 millimeters of rain, in line with the historical average for the region, Avila said.
Robusta output in the state will rise 4.3 percent to 7.2 million bags in the harvesting season that runs from April to October, Brazil's Agriculture Ministry said.
Robusta for May delivery was little changed today, dropping $1, or less than 0.1 percent, to $1,525 per metric ton on London's Euronext.liffe. Robusta futures have risen 30 percent in the past year.
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