The International Coffee Organization´s latest composite indicator report [June 2019] quotes the monthly average composite indicator rose by 7.1% to 99.97 US cents/lb, the first increase in the monthly average since January 2019.
During May 2019, world coffee exports rose by 19.4% to 11.6 million bags compared to May 2018 while exports in the first eight months of coffee year 2018/19 rose by 7.5% to 86.57 million bags. Demand for coffee appears to be strong as imports by ICO importing Members and the United States, which account for around 75% of global imports, increased by 4.9% to 66.56 million bags in the first six months of coffee year 2018/19.
Global coffee consumption is estimated to grow by 2% to 164.64 million bags in coffee year 2018/19. Despite the ongoing demand growth, a global production surplus of 3.11 million bags is expected in coffee year 2018/19.
However this report is in sharp contrast to a recent statement by the Specialty Coffee Association of America who stated that in October a rising number of Central American farmers particularly those traveling with the migrant caravan have blamed a global coffee crisis as the primary reason they were forced to their abandon their coffee farms.
According to the SCAA over 60% of coffee farmers in Guatemala, Nicaragua, El Salvador and Mexico have reported food insecurity during the harvest cycle in the last 10 years.
