Commodities : Monday, July 6, 1987 : Coffee Prices Hit 6-Year Low

Coffee futures prices slumped to $1 a pound Monday for the first time in six years on the Coffee, Sugar and Cocoa Exchange in New York.

In other markets, crude oil advanced to almost $21 a barrel; wheat and soybeans were higher while corn futures retreated; precious metals were higher; and livestock and meat futures were mostly higher.

Mild weather in the Brazilian coffee belt is presenting no danger to the budding 1988-89 crop, which is now in a stage when it could be damaged by a cold spell, said Kim Badenhop, an analyst in New York with Merrill Lynch Futures.

“Overnight lows have been trending warmer rather than cooler,” he said. “They need a frost in the coffee belt if prices are to move higher.”

The market faces not only promising conditions for next season’s crop, but a bountiful harvest this year.

Brazil expects to harvest 35 million bags of coffee this season, compared with last year’s drought-reduced crop of 11.2 million bags. Each bag contains 132 pounds.