Coffee may chart fifty-year highs

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BRASILIA, Mar 18 (Commodity Online): With Brazilian Arabica coffee crops undergoing a cyclical lull and coffee bean demand remaining robust, coffee prices may rise to fifty-year highs. In fact, stocks-to-use-ratio of coffee is expected to be the lowest for 2011-12; lowest in fifty-years, reported http://www.agrimoney.com mentioning a Robobank report. At just under 78 million bags, the Brazilian Arabica production is expected to come down by 7.4 per cent. The stocks are set to rebuild for the current season. But with the demand surging in various countries, and supplies tightening, the prices are expected to increase. But Coffee price rise to the tune of 25 per cent in some brands over the last nine months in is not expected to make a dent in upmarket coffee consumption. US demand is expected to be flat in 2011-12, and increase by 2.0 per cent in the European Union.