Colombia Says Coffee Output May Rise 16% in 2012 on Rebound

Colombia, the second largest producer of arabica coffee, said its harvest may rise by as much as 16 percent next year, when coffee growers may begin stock exchange trading of the Juan Valdez brand of coffee.

Growers may harvest as much as 11 million bags in 2012 from an estimated 9.5 million bags this year amid efforts to plant coffee varieties resistant to disease, said Luis Munoz, chief executive officer of Colombia’s National Coffee Growers Federation.

The federation controls Procafecol SA, which sells Juan Valdez coffee at stores in Colombia and abroad.

Arabica coffee has more than doubled in New York in 12 months as storms in Colombia cut exports last year and pushed the harvest in April to a 15-month low.

Higher production depends partly on improved weather conditions, Munoz said on a cloudy day in Bogota.

This year, Colombia’s harvest will improve in the last six months of the year after a “tough” April and May, Munoz said.

Output declined 19 percent in April to 523,000 bags from 647,000 bags a year earlier after storm damage to crops, the federation said on May 12.

Arabica coffee for July delivery rose 5.10 cents, or 1.9 percent, to $2.7120 a pound at 11:41 a.m. on ICE Futures U.S. in New York.