Brazilian Fine Coffee Premium Eases as Dollar Rises, Broker Says

Nov. 23 (Bloomberg) -- The premium buyers are prepared to pay for fine cup coffee from top global producer Brazil eased this week on a stronger dollar, according to Rio de Janeiro- based broker Flavour Coffee.

Fine cup beans were selling at a premium of 4 cents a pound over the price on ICE Futures U.S., down from 5 cents a pound the previous week, data from the brokerage show. Good cup coffee, which is of a lower quality, was unchanged at a discount of 10 cents a pound to the exchange price, the broker said in a report e-mailed today.

“Prices fell slightly in southern Minas Gerais and the dollar rose, helping ease premiums a bit,” Flavio Ribeiro, a broker at the company, said by phone from Rio de Janeiro today. Minas Gerais is Brazil’s largest arabica producing state.

A stronger dollar favors exports of commodities priced in Brazilian reais. The dollar rose as much as 3.1 percent against the real today, data on Bloomberg show.

Arabica coffee for March delivery was down 0.3 percent at $2.3625 a pound on ICE Futures U.S. in New York by 12:23 p.m.

--Editors: Sharon Lindores, Dan Weeks

To contact the reporter on this story: Isis Almeida in London at ialmeida3@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: John Deane at jdeane3@bloomberg.net