Arabica prices rise in December
The ICO composite indicator in December increased by 4.6% to 114.74 US cents/lb as prices for Arabica group indicators increased. The largest increase occurred for Brazilian Naturals, which grew by 8% to 114.96 US cents/lb, which is the highest monthly average since December 2019 when they reached 126.36 US cents/lb. Colombian Milds rose by 5.7% to 170.44 US cents/lb and Other Milds by 4.7% to 157.81 US cents/lb, which are both higher than their average in December 2019. However, prices for Robusta fell by 0.5% to 72.04 US cents/lb. In the first two months of coffee year 2020/21, total exports were 6.5% higher at 20.2 million bags compared to the same period last year as shipments for all groups declined except Brazilian Naturals, which rose by 23.1% to 8.31 million bags. Likely due to the impact of the covid-19 pandemic, imports by ICO importing Members and the United States decreased by 4.5% to 129.98 million bags in coffee year 2019/20. While both green and roasted imports declined in coffee year 2019/20, imports of soluble coffee increased by 1% to 14.4 million bags. In coffee year 2019/20, re-exports by ICO importing Members and the United States rose by 0.4% to 46.93 million bags.