Coffee Soars on Trucker Strike

Colombia Disruption Adds to Already-Short Supplies

By TOM SELLEN
Wall Street Journal

Arabica coffee futures rallied 4.2% on speculative fund buying and concern that a nationwide truckers' strike in Colombia may disrupt already-short supplies.

The nearby May coffee contract traded on ICE Futures U.S. in New York climbed 4.7 cents to settle at $1.1695 a pound.

The most-active July coffee contract rose 3.4 cents to close at $1.1775.

While a strong technical chart set-up and speculative buying that pushed prices up into preprogrammed buy orders played a large part in the rally, the Colombian strike news bolstered market bulls amid fear that supplies out of the world's largest producer of mild, washed arabica beans may be disrupted.

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