New Orleans is home to around 1/6 of the country's stored coffee. There were roughly 733,000 bags of coffee, weighing approximately 132 to 150 pounds each, in storage in New Orleans on Monday, according to The Chicago Board of Trade. Industry officials seemed to be right in their worry over flooding as nearly the entire city is under water and evacuation orders are now in place.
The New York Board of Trade announced that a force majeure situation exists. That means that a situation caused by a force of nature voids a contract. Because of that force majeure declaration any delivery notices traded on the exchange before the announcement on Tuesday, are suspended until further notice. All coffee from the exchange will head to Houston, Miami or New York for now.
While the assumed loss of the stored coffee in New Orleans will most likely affect prices, so will the delays and rerouting in shipments not yet stored. All of these details are part and parcel, and figure into each cup of Java bought by the consumer. Overproduction has had coffee prices in a slump, trading globally around .94 cents per pound. Last year, that same size bag could have sold for as much as $1.40. One has to wonder if the slump is over and if that $1.40 will look good to coffee lovers in the near future. Add the loss of the stored coffee to the highly dynamic gas prices and you just might have the makings for one very expensive cup of brew!
The main thing for coffee lovers across the country to remember is that, you are blessed to be able to continue to indulge with your coffee. There are so many in the Gulf Region that no longer have the luxury of a cup of coffee. Pray for them and pay it forward with one simple, random act of kindness to your fellow human.
some facts and figures for this article were obtained from Yahoo News
