Commodities : Dec. 16,1985 : Coffee Futures Soar Again

Coffee futures prices soared again Monday on the Coffee, Sugar and Cocoa Exchange in New York and the expectation is that they will go higher still.

“The drought in Brazil looks worse day by day,” said Kim Badenhop, an analyst in New York with Merrill Lynch Futures.

“We were looking at a price of 200 cents (a pound) by spring and we’re there now,” he said. “It appears the bullish market is going to just keep on going. We’re looking at 250 cents” probably in the next couple of months. Assuming prices remain high, all export quotas imposed by the International Coffee Organization will be lifted early next year, theoretically putting more coffee on the market and keeping prices restrained.

Coffee prices set life-of-contract highs and were 6 cents to 9.50 cents higher with the contract for delivery in December at 202 cents a pound.

Orange juice futures on the Cotton Exchange in New York were the limit higher on all contracts. Judy Weissman, an analyst in New York with Shearson Lehman Brothers Inc., said prices advanced on speculative buying influenced by forecasts of cold weather in Florida this week and next.