Top Coffee Commodity Trading Tips, Watch Coffee Market Fundamentals
There is potential for coffee commodity trading observers to make some great profitable trades, after a UN food agency report pinpointed the need for global food production to increase by over 70% by 2050. Over the years, along with crude oil, coffee has been a major traded commodity, so the markets will follow closely any material change in coffee futures prices, especially when crop yields can be affected by dramatic weather changes. An important factor for this popular commodity is good rainfall, so it's not surprising that most coffee beans grow between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn.
Ideally, to achieve high crop yields growers want a temperature range of 17 to 23 centigrade, together with stable climate and encouraging soil conditions. According to a recent Cafedirect report, coffee farmers in developed countries are suffering damage to their crops. Rising temperatures are forcing coffee growers to shift to higher altitudes, and these higher temperatures encourage more disease caused by pests. Given that coffee beans are best grown with small temperature variations, clearly climate change will have a growing impact on coffee growers.
The main two varieties of any real economic significance to those following coffee commodity trading are Arabica and Robusta, both actively traded futures on major world commodity exchanges. The US is the biggest world consumer and importer of coffee, while the largest producer Brazil, produced almost 34 million (29% global output) 60-kg bags of coffee in 2007/8, mainly Arabica. The next biggest producer is Vietnam with a 15% world share at 17.50 m bags (Robusta), while Columbia was third with 12.40 m bags (Arabica) and an 11% share, and Indonesia was fourth largest producer in 2007/8 with 7.0 m bags.
Making up about 70% of green coffee bean production, Arabica thrives at altitudes of over 4,000 ft in warm, humid climates, which along with the right soil conditions gives the bean its characteristic aromatic flavour. Most Arabica grows in the high altitudes of countries like Columbia, Brazil, Peru, Ecuador and Venezuela. The Santos grade of Arabica in Brazil is considered one of the best, with beans picked within the first 4 years of the coffee tree's life. While Robusta beans, which are a lower grade and grown mainly in South East Asia, are picked after 2-3 years, usually with Arabica there is a longer lead time of 4-5 years.
A drought can lead to coffee futures prices rising because a crop yield collapse hits supply. Lower crop yields due to higher than normal rainfall may also lead to higher prices. The crop for both current and the following year can be affected by freezing, which can be a problem particularly in Latin America for Arabica varieties in the higher altitudes. Over recent years serious freezing has occurred once in every six years in winter (June to August) months in the southern hemisphere, according to data. The coffee commodity trading observer needs to weigh up all these factors before they enter trades.
The first stages in coffee bean growth is the appearance of white blossom on coffee trees, followed by growth of green cherries from two weeks to 6-9 months, which eventually become reddish and then black cherries. There are two coffee beans in each cherry. The "dry" method accounts for most coffee production where cherries are stripped off the tree before the green beans are dried and graded, then shipped for roasting. Broadly speaking one pound of coffee comes from around 2,000 cherries (4,000 beans).
You are no doubt excited to start your coffee commodity trading activities, so before you take some potentially profitable trades make sure you choose a broker with an accessible electronic trading platform. The Arabica benchmark on ICE Futures US is the Coffee "C" futures contract, and you can also get exposure to Robusta futures contracts through the exchange. Should you want to trade only soft commodities but not as futures, you have the option to use an agricultural ETF which tracks a soft commodity index. Using these various derivative and investment vehicles, the trader has some good options for gaining exposure to these exciting coffee commodity trading markets. - 23223
Ideally, to achieve high crop yields growers want a temperature range of 17 to 23 centigrade, together with stable climate and encouraging soil conditions. According to a recent Cafedirect report, coffee farmers in developed countries are suffering damage to their crops. Rising temperatures are forcing coffee growers to shift to higher altitudes, and these higher temperatures encourage more disease caused by pests. Given that coffee beans are best grown with small temperature variations, clearly climate change will have a growing impact on coffee growers.
The main two varieties of any real economic significance to those following coffee commodity trading are Arabica and Robusta, both actively traded futures on major world commodity exchanges. The US is the biggest world consumer and importer of coffee, while the largest producer Brazil, produced almost 34 million (29% global output) 60-kg bags of coffee in 2007/8, mainly Arabica. The next biggest producer is Vietnam with a 15% world share at 17.50 m bags (Robusta), while Columbia was third with 12.40 m bags (Arabica) and an 11% share, and Indonesia was fourth largest producer in 2007/8 with 7.0 m bags.
Making up about 70% of green coffee bean production, Arabica thrives at altitudes of over 4,000 ft in warm, humid climates, which along with the right soil conditions gives the bean its characteristic aromatic flavour. Most Arabica grows in the high altitudes of countries like Columbia, Brazil, Peru, Ecuador and Venezuela. The Santos grade of Arabica in Brazil is considered one of the best, with beans picked within the first 4 years of the coffee tree's life. While Robusta beans, which are a lower grade and grown mainly in South East Asia, are picked after 2-3 years, usually with Arabica there is a longer lead time of 4-5 years.
A drought can lead to coffee futures prices rising because a crop yield collapse hits supply. Lower crop yields due to higher than normal rainfall may also lead to higher prices. The crop for both current and the following year can be affected by freezing, which can be a problem particularly in Latin America for Arabica varieties in the higher altitudes. Over recent years serious freezing has occurred once in every six years in winter (June to August) months in the southern hemisphere, according to data. The coffee commodity trading observer needs to weigh up all these factors before they enter trades.
The first stages in coffee bean growth is the appearance of white blossom on coffee trees, followed by growth of green cherries from two weeks to 6-9 months, which eventually become reddish and then black cherries. There are two coffee beans in each cherry. The "dry" method accounts for most coffee production where cherries are stripped off the tree before the green beans are dried and graded, then shipped for roasting. Broadly speaking one pound of coffee comes from around 2,000 cherries (4,000 beans).
You are no doubt excited to start your coffee commodity trading activities, so before you take some potentially profitable trades make sure you choose a broker with an accessible electronic trading platform. The Arabica benchmark on ICE Futures US is the Coffee "C" futures contract, and you can also get exposure to Robusta futures contracts through the exchange. Should you want to trade only soft commodities but not as futures, you have the option to use an agricultural ETF which tracks a soft commodity index. Using these various derivative and investment vehicles, the trader has some good options for gaining exposure to these exciting coffee commodity trading markets. - 23223
About the Author:
The author, Marianna Gomes, focuses on soft commodities and pens articles for a helpful online resource ontrading commodities. Learn more about how you could benefit from coffee commodity trading tips here.
posted by X - Men @ 4:00 AM
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