Arabica Coffee Sinks to 4 1/2-Month Low

NEW YORK (AP) -- Arabica coffee futures collapsed to 4 1/2-month lows on the New York Board of Trade on Monday as funds and small speculators liquidated in a broad commodity slide, following overnight losses in Asian and European stock markets.

The March contract closed down 3.80 cents at $1.1055 a pound, with May off 3.65 cents at $1.1150.

Talk is that, while Brazil's developing crop is smaller, it's nonetheless bigger than was expected three months ago because of ample rainfall since then. Global Arabica supplies should tighten in late 2007 following Brazil's cyclically smaller harvest from June to September.

American adults now consume more coffee a day than soft drinks, the National Coffee Association's drinking survey found in results released Saturday at the group's conference in Arizona.

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