Colombia

Colombia’s National Federation of Coffee Growers has said that it expects the country’s coffee crop yield to be significantly lower next year. The organization’s c.e.o. Luis Munoz said the pessimistic forecast comes as a result of excessive rains that severely affected this year’s crops.
Moreover, the county’s industry is not “out of the water” yet: the infamous La Niña ocean-atmosphere phenomenon is expected to last at least through the first quarter of 2012 causing further rainstorms. According to Munoz, the harvest this year is expected to drop by 10% down to 8 million bags. It will be the smallest crop since 2009, when the harvest fell to a 33-year low. Lower yield in Colombia has contributed to a “scarcity” of arabica and a drop in worldwide inventories equivalent to about two months of consumption.