World Coffee Deficit May Be 8 Million Bags in 2009-10

By Claire Leow
Dec. 9 (Bloomberg) -- World coffee consumption may outstrip production by as much as 8 million bags in 2009-10 because of the smaller crop in Brazil, the top grower, said Nestor Osorio, International Coffee Organization Executive Director.

``It's a tight situation that will support prices,'' Osorio said in an interview today in Ho Chi Minh City.

Prices of the mild-tasting arabica coffee used by Starbucks Corp. jumped 6.1 percent yesterday, the biggest gain in almost three years as Brazil's Agriculture Minister Reinhold Stephanes said output may drop as much as 22 percent next year to as low as 36 million bags. Prices of the bitter-tasting robusta used in espresso and instant coffee by Nestle SA climbed 4.3 percent.

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