Coffee shipments from Sumatra, Indonesia, the world’s third-biggest grower of the robusta variety, dropped 41 percent in June, raising concerns about the size of the crop, according to Volcafe Ltd. About 50 to 70 percent of the nation’s highland crops were harvested and production so far appears “considerably lower, in some areas up to 35 percent,” the unit of commodities trader ED&F Man Holdings Ltd. said in a report e-mailed July 4. “There is a reluctance to sell forward among the exporters as some still have short positions to cover and others try to build a long position,” Volcafe said. “Some believe that the flow of fresh asalan will reduce considerably after Ramadan and many predict the end of season will be in August/September,” Volcafe said, referring to a type of robusta. Indonesian beans for shipment in July and August traded at a premium of $60 a metric ton against the NYSE Liffe price last week, the same as the previous week, according to Volcafe. Beans from Vietnam for shipment in the same months were at par with London futures last week, from a premium of $20 a week earlier. Sales from farmers in Vietnam, the top grower of the robusta variety, were “good” and the weather remains “ideal,” Volcafe said. By contrast, persistent dryness in India’s main coffee-growing regions in the state of Karnataka may threaten next year’s crop, according to the report. The weather was also dry in Kerala, which grows 20 percent of the country’s coffee. “If this situation continues, yields will drop in the near future,” Volcafe said. In Brazil, the world’s biggest producer and exporter of coffee, the “weather has been supportive for harvesting, but sellers are holding back on lower New York” prices, according to the report. Arabica coffee has climbed 52 percent this year in New York on concerns the drought in Brazil may hurt the crop. Robusta coffee is 21 percent higher on NYSE Liffe in London. Source: bloomberg.com/news/2014-07-07/indonesia-coffee-exports-drop-seen-raising-crop-concerns.html