Coffee defies commodities slump

Robert Laing
Published:Sep 26, 2008
The Times (New Zealand)

NEVER mind gold or oil, buy coffee. The ‘‘coffee and tea” item in August’s producer price index basket showed the biggest month-on-month jump of 12.6 percent.

Coffee defied August’s general slump in commodity prices, which saw crude petroleum and natural gas fall 7.8 percent, bringing oil’s annual inflation to zero.

The International Coffee Organisation (ICO) said August’s price jump partly due to hurricanes destroying coffee plantations in key Caribbean growing areas like Cuba and Haiti.

While Brazil is expected to produce a record coffee crop this year, its growing domestic consumption means its exports are likely to drop.

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