Price of canephora coffee surpasses arabica in Brazil in a rare moment in history, says Cepea

By Roberto Samora SÃO PAULO (Reuters) - Prices for canephora coffee, which includes the conilon and robusta varieties, surpassed those for arabica in Brazil last Friday, a rare moment in history, according to data collected by the Center for Advanced Studies in Applied Economics (Cepea), at Esalq/USP. Normally, prices for arabica have a premium over robusta or conilon, since the former is milder and preferred by coffee shops and consumers in general, while canephoras are used to produce instant coffee and also for blends, for the composition of roasted and ground coffee sold in supermarkets. But the lower supply in Vietnam and Indonesia, large robusta producers, and a lower-than-expected canephora harvest in Brazil, are supporting prices. Brazilian exporters are receiving strong demand from abroad, with shipments reaching successive records in recent months, as they are covering part of the Asian countries' share of the global market. The Cepea/Esalq indicator for Robusta type 6, ...