With the real currency depreciating, Brazilian farmers are dumping harvests on to the global markets, putting further pressure on the coffee prices and related exchange traded notes.
The iPath Dow Jones-UBS Coffee Total Return Sub-Index ETN (NYSEArca: JO) declined 4.6% Monday while the iPath Pure Beta Coffee ETN (NYSEArca: CAFÉ) decreased 2.8%. Year-to-date, JO fell 20.4% and CAFE retreated 19.2%.
ICE coffee futures were down 3.8% to $1.33 per pound Monday.
Despite the falling coffee prices, Brazilian farmers continue to export more of their stockpiles as the Brazilian real deprecated almost 20% against the U.S. dollar, near an 11-year low, reports Emiko Terazono for Financial Times.
The WisdomTree Brazilian Real ETF (NYSEArca: BZF), which follows real currency movements against the USD, is down 16.0% so far this year and 22.8% lower over the past year. The real currency and related ETF have declined in response to a weakening economic outlook and corruption charges surrounding Petrobras, the multinational energy company. [Brazilian Bungle: More New Lows for Brazil ETFs]
“Brazil’s weaker currency is giving a big boost to Brazilian exporters,” Michael McDougall of commodity brokers Newedge said in the FT article.
Since coffee beans are priced in U.S. dollars, Brazilian farmers are selling more abroad to capitalize off the strong U.S. dollar and weak real currency, even though coffee prices continue to decline. Consequently, while coffee prices have declined in dollar terms this year, the market is up 3.4% in Brazilian reals.