USDA-stirs hot debate on coffee

USDA-stirs hot debate on coffee

BOGOTA (Reuter): The latest U.S. estimate of coffee output in
Brazil, Colombia and Indonesia has stirred heated debate in
Brazil, where industry officials are openly challenging its
accuracy.

In Colombia, a leading industry official said he saw the
debate as little more than a tempest in a cup of "cafezinho,"
however, since the figures from the U.S. Agriculture Department
appeared more or less on target.

"They're not far from reality," Gabriel Rosas Vega, president
of the private Colombian Coffee Exporters' Association, told
Reuters.

In its World Agricultural Production report, USDA pegged
Colombia's 1997/98 coffee output at 11.3 million 60-kg bags, up
from a sharply revised estimate of 10.3 million bags for 1996/97.

It also forecast Brazil's 1996/97 and 1997-98 coffee crops at
27.5 million and 28 million bags, respectively, compared to the
Brazilian government's estimates of 25-26 million for 1996-97 and
22 million for 1997-98.

The forecast prompted Mauricio Assis, head of the primary
commodities department at Brazil's Industry and Commerce
Ministry, to complain that it was flawed by the apparent lack any
credible methodology.