El Nino phenomenon affects RI coffee trees<\/p>\n
SINGAPORE (Reuter): A drought linked to the El Nino weather
\nphenomenon is blistering Indonesian coffee trees, boosting
\nconcern that the 1998 crop will fall and there may be quality
\nproblems, regional dealers said yesterday.<\/p>\n
"We don't expect a good crop," said a dealer for a U.S.
\ncommodity house. "This El Nino-related drought is becoming more
\nof a concern for the trade. We haven't seen any significant rain
\nthe past two months. The trees are being stressed by the heat."<\/p>\n
"If we don't get rain soon, the quality of next year's crop is
\ngoing to suffer," said a dealer for a Singapore-based trading
\nfirm.<\/p>\n
Regional traders discounted reports that some Indonesian
\nexporters believe the rains will reach the coffee farms in
\nSeptember and help ensure a good crop. Indonesia is the world's
\nthird biggest coffee producer after Brazil and Colombia.<\/p>\n
"That's really wishful thinking on their part. We need to see
\nthe rain come in. There are still no rains and the drought is
\nbeginning to bite," a dealer said.<\/p>\n
Indonesia's coffee production fell by around 30 percent this
\nyear to about 270,000-290,000 tonnes and some dealers fear the
\ndrought may cause a further drop in output in 1998.<\/p>\n
The dry spell was spawned by El Nino, a weather phenomenon
\ncaused by formation of an abnormal warm water current off the
\nwestern coast of South America.<\/p>\n
Meteorologists say this year's version has arrived early and
\ncould rival the century's worst in 1982-1983, when drought zapped
\ncrops in Indonesia, Australia, the Philippines and South Africa.<\/p>\n
Traders said the flowering cherries on Indonesian coffee trees
\nmay shrivel and produce abnormally small beans if the drought is
\nnot broken by the arrival of timely rains.<\/p>\n
"The flowering period is almost done. It looks pretty bad," a
\ndealer said.<\/p>\n
In Vietnam, steady rainfall was reported in the main coffee
\nproducing province of Dak Lak while too much rain fell in the
\nsouthern part of the country. Dak Lak harvests about two-thirds
\nof all the coffee produced in the country.<\/p>\n
The crop is coming along well and Vietnamese robusta
\nproduction is expected to rise 10 percent in the 1997\/1998
\nNov\/Feb season to 300,000-320,000 tonnes.<\/p>\n
"Vietnam is going OK. Dak Lak is fine," a dealer said.<\/p>\n
Some deals were reported for lower-quality Grade 6 Indonesian
\ncoffee and for Vietnam's benchmark Grade 2 coffee, 8.0 percent
\nblack and broken, dealers said. Indonesia's key coffee is the
\nGrade 4, 80 defects, brand.<\/p>\n
"I'm sure some deals were done for Vietnamese coffee, but
\nwe're just really waiting for the roasters to come back from the
\nsummer holidays," a trader said.<\/p>\n
Another dealer said: "There's really very little business
\nbeing done at the moment. We're waiting for September and the
\nwinter buying period."<\/p>\n
Asian coffee dealers said they expect the London robusta
\nmarket to open about $30-$40 higher later yesterday.<\/p>\n
"London will go up by about $30 to $40. It seems pretty quiet
\nfor now," one said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/el-nino-phenomenon-affects-ri-coffee-trees-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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