Coffee Falls as Production Outlook Improves

Coffee futures fell Thursday following estimates that place the global coffee market in a smaller deficit than previously thought.

Arabica coffee for December lost 0.5% to $1.235 a pound on the ICE Futures U.S. exchange.

Brokerage Marex Spectron reduced its estimate for a supply deficit in 2017/2018 to 2.2 million bags, about half its previous projections. The firm said production is expected at 155.3 million bags, with global coffee demand at 157.6 million bags.

Rainfall has been erratic in Brazil during the wet season, with traders selling on forecasts for wet weather. WeatherBELL Analytics said in a note that weather has been dry in Arabica areas since June, but rainfall has been increasing.

"This does not mean that everyone is necessarily certain about how much will be produced next year, given that many producers, agronomists and exporters have warned of a growing degree of uncertainty due to defoliation in several areas of arabica," said Rodrigo Costa, director of trading at Comexim USA.

In other markets, raw sugar for March was down 0.4% at 14.12 cents a pound, cocoa for December rose 1.9% to $2,118 a ton, frozen concentrated orange juice for January was up 0.9% at $1.547 a pound, and December cotton lost 1.3% to 68.40 cents a pound.

Write to Julie Wernau at julie.wernau@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 26, 2017 11:54 ET (15:54 GMT)