Colombia coffee production drops by one third

BOGOTA (AFP) — Coffee production in Colombia, the world's number two producer of the beans, plunged 33 percent in the first four months of 2009, with exports sinking by 21 percent, officials said.

The National Coffeegrowers Federation, or Federacafe, said January-April production reached just 2.88 million 60-kilogram (132-pound) bags, compared with 4.25 million bags in the same period in 2008.

"The winter, low fertilization and the renovation of coffee plantations had a strong impact on production in the first months of the year," said Federacafe, which represents the Andean nation's half million coffeegrowers.

Colombia comes second only to Brazil in coffee production. Much of the country's northwest is cloaked in the crop, which produces a subtle brew sought after by many buyers.

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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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US cartoon provokes Colombia ire

Colombian coffee growers are planning to sue a US cartoonist for millions of dollars over a cartoon they say damages the reputation of Colombian coffee.

The cartoon is by Mike Peters, whose work is published in the US and abroad.

In it, one character refers to crime in Colombia and then to Juan Valdez, the fictional coffee grower used for years to advertise Colombian coffee.

Coffee growers say the cartoon links their industry with violence. Mr Peters has said he intended no offence.

The cartoon strip which appeared on 2 January is part of the Mother Goose and Grimm series that Mr Peters draws.

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Colombia wants coffee countries to buy Starbucks

BOGOTA, Nov 23 (Reuters) - Coffee-growing nations should buy Starbucks and create their own distribution chain as the U.S. company grapples with slowing sales, Colombia's coffee federation chief said in an interview published on Sunday.

Gabriel Silva, director of the National Federation of Coffee Growers, also told El Tiempo newspaper that Colombia will accumulate four times the coffee stocks it did a year ago to build inventories and shore up coffee prices.

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Colombia Fedecafe To Up Coffee Output

Colombia Fedecafe To Up Coffee Output To 15 Million-16 Million Bags By '15
Dow Jones
November 23, 2007: 11:47 AM EST

BOGOTA -(Dow Jones)- Colombia's National Federation of Coffee Growers, or Fedecafe, plans to boost the country's output to between 15 million and 16 million 60-kilogram bags by 2015 by subsidizing farmers to replant existing, aging fields.

Fedecafe plans to help small coffee growers pull out existing coffee plants on some 300,000 hectares over five years and replant new, more productive ones, Gabriel Silva, Fedecafe's president, told reporters at a press conference.

Coffee fields' production tend to dwindle as the plants age. The ideal is to have plants younger than six years, Silva said. In Colombia, small farmers keep plants that are 20 or 22 years old or even older, he said.

The government will also subsidize the farmers.

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Colombia Juan Valdez Coffee-Shop Chain To Open Cafes In Chile

BOGOTA (Dow Jones)--The Colombian Juan Valdez coffee-shop chain has signed a deal to open about 20 stores and distribute Colombian coffee in Chile, the company said in a report this week.

The deal was reached between the Chilean Falabella group and Procafecol S.A., the holding company set up to manage the Juan Valdez brand. Procafecol is the Spanish acronym for "promoter of Colombian coffee."

The new operations include the creation of Procafecol Chile, in which the Colombian shareholders will have a 35% stake and Falabella a 65% stake, Procafecol said in a report filed to the Colombian securities regulator. A copy was obtained by Dow Jones Newswires.

Procafecol is 83.9% owned by Colombia's National Federation of Coffee Growers, or Fedecafe, and 15.19% by local coffee growers, according to Fedecafe figures.

The company currently operates 65 Juan Valdez outlets in Colombia, as well as others in the U.S. and Spain, according to the Juan Valdez Web site.

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