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MILAN – The first session of the week saw Arabica futures regain momentum, with the July contract in New York adding 1,020 points (+2.6%) yesterday to close at 410.05 cents. This is the first time in over a month and a half that the main contract has closed above $4. The weather situation and the uncertain outlook for the new crop in Brazil continues to provide strong support to the Arabica futures market.
The situation was less tense in London, where the July ICE Robusta coffee closed slightly (-0.04%) at 5,413.
US President Donald Trump’s decision to suspend reciprocal tariffs on US imports until 9 July also contributed to the strong recovery in Arabica prices.
While the direct impact on major Arabica producers like Brazil and Colombia was somewhat limited due to the relatively low initial import tariff of 10%, the swift reversal nonetheless had a positive effect on overall market sentiment, Carsten Fritsch, commodity analyst at Commerzbank AG, said
It should be recalled that Vietnam, the world’s largest producer of Robusta coffee, was initially subject to tariffs of 46% and Indonesia, Asia’s second largest producer, of 32%.
The National Coffee Association (NCA) has since called on the US government to exempt coffee imports from the tariffs.
According to NCA’s CEO Bill Murray, the application has been well received by the Trump’s Administration.
“We think it is a good sign that our request has been well received and is being looked at, but it’s impossible to predict if that means anything,” Murray said via video call at an event held last week by Brazilian coffee roasters association ABIC in the city of Campinas.
Also worth mentioning is the initiative of Ico Executive Secretary Vanúsia Nogueira, who sent a letter to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on April 16, containing a request for consideration of the coffee sector in negotiations on US import tariffs.
US coffee roasters can finally write on their product labels that coffee is a healthy product
The FDA first promulgated a definition of “healthy” in 1994 and set standards that foods had to meet in order to include the word “healthy” on their labels. A new definition was finalized on December 19, 2024, with an effective date of April 28, 2025.
Under FDA regulations, foods must comply with the new requirements in order to include the word “healthy” or derivatives of healthy like “healthful,” “healthfully,” “healthfulness,” “healthier,” “healthiest,” “healthily,” and “healthiness” on their labels.
The new “healthy” definition applies to coffee with fewer than five calories per 12 ounces (known as the “reference amount customarily consumed”) and per serving. According to data in the U.S. Department of Agriculture Nutrient Database, the calorie content of 12 ounces of brewed coffee is 3.55 calories.
The new administration under Health and Human Services Secretary RFK Jr. and FDA Commissioner Marty Makarry, did make some amendments to the rule recently – but coffee remains unchanged and still qualifies to be labeled as healthy.
In related news, the World Cancer Research Federation has included coffee in its recommendations on healthy eating patterns, in reducing the risk of colorectal cancer.
