In the southern hemisphere, the seasons are exactly the opposite.

While the summer is cooler and rainier than usual in this country, it is currently winter there.

This also applies to Brazil - to the surprise of many poorly prepared South America travelers.

The seasons and temperature differences are usually not as pronounced there as in our latitudes, they say.

Kerstin Papon

Editor in business.

  • Follow I follow

But currently, a cold spell in the world's most important coffee producer is fueling concerns about the threat of crop failures in the popular beans. At the beginning of the week, the contract price for Arabica coffee on the American futures exchange climbed to the highest level in six and a half years - by 14 percent to $ 2.152 per pound. The damage caused by the constant frost in the Brazilian growing areas has so far been difficult to estimate, says commodity trader Charles Sargeant from brokerage firm Britannia. With an estimated two-thirds share of world production, Arabica is the dominant coffee variety, followed by Robusta.

At the end of last week, the Arabica price passed the $ 2 per pound mark for the first time since 2014.

At the top it was 209.5 American cents on Friday, says Commerzbank.

With the weekly closing rate of 189 cents alone, there was a two-week plus of a quarter.

The reason for the price jump is the cold spell in Brazil, which was recently accompanied by frost in important Arabica growing areas, such as in the largest coffee state Minas Gerais, says Michaela Helbing-Kuhl, an analyst at Commerzbank.

Market participants with a short-term perspective reacted early on and significantly expanded their buy positions (net long), which should continue for the time being.

Only slowly does a clearer picture of the damage emerge, says Helbing-Kuhl. Although the current harvest has not yet been fully brought in, concerns about the next harvest in the coming spring dominate. Damage to the trees or even their death would have massive effects on the flowering and subsequent harvest. Initial estimates of the losses amounted to up to 10 percent of the previously estimated harvest of up to 68 million sacks and thus a near record level in 2022. According to the forecast authority Conab, up to 200,000 hectares or 11 percent of the Brazilian Arabica area are more or less affected. where the cold spell is not over yet. The price of Robusta coffee has also risen - to the highest level in almost four years.