Futures Markets:

Arabica : coffee futures finished the week sharply lower following a massive spec and fund liquidation. A strong US dollar and origin selling also contributed to the drop in prices. The soft commodity complex took a big hit on Wednesday with cocoa and sugar declining sharply as well. Concerns over the outlook of hedge funds after the recent proposals to limit the activity of US banks have caused specs to reduce participation on the commodity markets. On Friday coffee futures fell for the fifth straight session on speculative and origin selling as a weak technical performance and the near March delivery period induced the action. Other markets’ action contributed to add pressure on the prices.  Crude oil and copper have fallen more than 7% during this year as China and other emerging markets may reduce the demand for commodities.  During the week, Arabica coffee prices declined 7.90 cents or 5.6 %. In Brazil, the Real lost ground, thus inducing selling in the local market.

Robusta : the market also closed lower. Prices were also pressured by the strength of the US Dollar and origin selling mainly from Vietnam.

Currency : the pond slipped towards the end of the week as the UK emerged from  recession – just.

Futures and Currency close levels:

Physical Markets:

Brazil : Brazilian coffee consumption passed unscathed through the economic crisis of 2009 and is set to grow about 5% in 2010 as drinkers of the beverage in the world's No. 2 coffee consuming natio begin to experiment more. The forecast comes from the Brazilian Coffee Industry Association, (ABIC), which said the growth would come on top of a 4% rise in consumption in 2009, higher than the 3% expected when the global economic crisis unfolded.

Colombia : dry weather may affect the areas of Nariño and Huila. Local producers and local dealers remained concerned about Broca infestations.

Costa Rica : The head of Costa Rica's (ICAFE) coffee association said on Monday that Starbucks has reduced its purchases of the country's coffee.

Vietnam : Vietnam's coffee exports this month rose 3 percent from last January to an estimated 140,000 tonnes, or 2.33 million bags, according to the Vietnamese government. The estimated shipment for January brought Vietnam's total coffee exports in the first four months of the October 2009 to September 2010 crop year to 421,600 tonnes, or 7.03 million bags, monthly data from the General Statistics Office showed.

Cocoa : Nestle has cultivated 140,000 disease-resistant cocoa trees to distribute to farmers in Ivory Coast and should boost that number to 1 million per year by 2012, a company executive said on Thursday. Nestle last year launched a plan to hand out the high-yield saplings to farmers with a view to possibly doubling their productivity and improving the often poor quality of Ivory Coast's cocoa.

UK :  coffee giant Starbucks are planning to open 30 new-look coffee shops in the UK, this year. The branches will create about 500 jobs and go some way to replacing 40 outlets shut last year. The move will raise the firm's number of UK branches to nearly 700.

Uganda expects 4 pct rise in 2010 tea exports - Uganda expects its tea exports to rise by 4% to 47 million kg in 2010 compared with a year before, helped by better rains and new investments in the sector, a senior industry official said. Uganda's 2009 tea exports stood at 45.4 million kg, fetching $90 million, up from the $75.8 million earned from the sale of 44.6 million kg of tea in 2008.