Global rates favour India

"The present global coffee price levels are pretty comfortable for India, with Arabica (plantation A) placed around 120 cents a pound and Robusta (Robusta cherry AB ) prices over $1,890 a tonne at LIFFE, which are quite good," said Coffee Board Chairman G V Krishna Rau, while addressing the Upasi annual meet in Coonoor.

"The surge in Robusta prices is attributed to Vietnam exhausting all its exportable stocks well in advance. As a result of this, even the arrival of fresh crop from Vietnam, which is around the corner, may not have any serious negative impact on the Robusta prices in the months to come. Overall, we expect the coffee prices to remain stable for the coming season also," he added.

Though the present coffee prices are considered comfortable or even good, it is an opportune time for the government and the industry to identify instruments and put them in place to enable coffee growers to use them to mitigate the price-related risk in times of need.

In this context, Rau said the development of futures market, coupled with appropriate warehousing and quality assurance mechanism, electronic spot market, is likely to provide opportunities for growers to make informed and intelligent decisions about marketing their coffee.