Reuters ahead on Brazil’s coffee outlook

One of this year’s surprise commodity stories has been the rally in coffee futures, which took off in June and have since then scaled peak after peak. Reuters was first on Oct. 14 to break news on one of the most controversial and vexing issues facing the ICE Arabica futures contract – the inclusion, or not, of Brazilian beans for delivery. After years of lobbying in vain, Brazil now looks on the cusp of securing the validation that it has long sought after the ICE Coffee Committee recommended proceeding with a proposal to allow delivery of Brazil’s washed and semi-washed beans – a small but growing share of the country’s total production – against the ICE contract, a development that could, in the long run, lead to lower prices. This was the real news; just the antidote for those who initially read the Wall Street Journal’s interesting but hollow coffee story. Reuters was also hours ahead of Dow Jones with the story.