Market Reports

Coffee consumption within South Korea continues to be underpinned by a robust café culture. However, according to the Customs Service, total coffee imports during the first half of 2026 declined by 14.62% year-on-year to 1.46 million bags. Approximately 90% of these imports comprised green coffee beans, with the remaining 10% consisting of roasted coffee products.

While coffee consumption in this country has experienced steady long-term growth over the past decade, from 2.46 million bags to 3.45 million bags the sharp rise in green coffee prices has altered purchasing behaviour. Elevated international coffee prices, combined with the weakness of the Korean won against the US Dollar which has declined in value by over 6% since the beginning of 2026, prompted reduced volume, to draw down existing inventories.

Retail coffee prices have consequently increased by an average of 7.80% year-on-year, largely reflecting the higher coffee futures prices, resulting in higher raw material costs, as well as increased import expenses. Despite the decline in import volumes. There is little evidence to suggest a meaningful deterioration in underlying consumer demand. Instead, the lower import figures appear to reflect cost-driven purchasing decisions and inventory management strategies rather than a structural decline in coffee consumption.

The Certified washed arabica coffee stocks held against the New York exchange were seen to decrease by 7,377 bags yesterday, to register these stocks at 253,343 bags, with 71.90% of these certified stocks held in Europe, at a total of 182,133 and the remaining 28.10% being held in the USA at a total 71,210 bags. Of this, a total 6,428 or 2.53% of the coffees registered and stored in consumer country certified warehouses of the exchange, are Brazil washed arabica, and a further 28.35% of these certified coffees, from Honduras at 71,822 bags and 20.91% from Peru at a total 52,971 bags. The pending grading remained unchanged on the day, registering 2,610 bags pending grading with 100% of these bags from Brazil.

The September 2026 to September 2026 contract arbitrage between the London and New York markets widened yesterday, to register this at 149.29 Usc/Lb. This equates to 46.06% price discount for London robusta coffee.

It was a mixed but overall firmer day on the commodity markets yesterday, with investors looking ahead to the next US interest rate decision as energy prices remain elevated reinforcing expectations of higher interest rates to remain. The Coffee, Sugar, Gold, Silver, Palladium and Platinum markets ended the day on a firmer note, while the Cocoa, Corn, Soybean and Wheat markets ended the day on a softer note. The day starts with the US Dollar trading at 1.345 Sterling, at 1.154 to the Euro and with the US Dollar buying 5.127 Brazil Real.

The London market opened the day yesterday firmer note, whilst the New York market also opened the day trading to the north of par from the outset. Both markets quickly made gains with support to trend firmer through the remainder of the early morning session in limited trade volume to start the day. As the afternoon progressed, the New York market continued to trend in a firmer direction, where buyers buoyed the market higher in the absence of sellers, the day tracked quickly higher to trigger buy stops along the way, with limited liquidity aiding in the firmer trajectory.  This firmer action continued in both the New York and London markets as the day progressed.  The upward moment in New York in a market was briefly halted, with a small degree of selling activity during the mid-afternoon session, with the market dropping back to set a new low for the day. This selling pressure was short lived, and the market quickly recovered to trend firmer to the close.  The New York market settled on a firmer note at the close with more than half of the earlier gains of the day intact, while the London market settled on a very firm note at the close, near to the highs of the day’s trading range.

The London market ended the day on a positive note, with 94.44% of the earlier gains of the day intact, while the New York market ended the day on likewise positive note with 63.01% of earlier gains of the day on the intact. This firmer close for the markets, with the London market retaining most of the earlier gains of the day while the New York market traded in a choppier manner albeit under light volumes, might see the markets set for a follow through steady start to early trade today, against the prices set yesterday, as follows: