Wednesday's price hike of over 3 percent means that the price of Arabica beans on the commodity market has risen by almost 70 percent since the turn of the year.
This is a reaction to the widespread drought in Brazil, which has created great uncertainty about this year's harvest. Unfavorable weather in Vietnam is also spreading concern. The two countries are the world's two largest coffee producers.
Price increases are now visible throughout the supply chain, where intermediaries are doing everything to protect their margins. And demands for securities in physical trade have also increased in the shadow of the increased risk of producers going bankrupt in the crisis, according to analysts at the coffee trading company Sucafina.
The Robusta bean – common in instant coffee – has simultaneously risen 85 percent so far this year. This has, among other things, created problems with an unusually high number of robberies and thefts of coffee beans in countries such as Uganda.
Earlier in November, Swiss Nestlé, the world's largest coffee producer, announced that the company plans price hikes and reduced coffee packaging.
