• Coffee Trade Statistics: World coffee exports amounted to 8.16 million bags in May 2009, compared with 8.15 million in May 2008.  Exports in the first 8 months of coffee year 2008/09 (Oct/08 to May/09) have increased by 3% to 65.69 million bags compared to 63.77 million bags in the same period in the last coffee year.  In the twelve months ending May 2009, exports of Arabica totalled 62.93 million bags compared to 62.46 million bags last year; whereas Robusta exports amounted to 34.89 million bags compared to 33.09 million bags. Coffee Trade Statistics May 2009
  

• The Executive Director of the International Coffee Organization, Néstor Osorio, would like to provide clarification on comments made in a television interview to Reuters, in London, on 23 June. According to the transcript, it was indicated that the next Brazilian crop could reach “close to 60 million bags”. This does not reflect at all the remarks made at the time, which dealt with the biennial nature of Brazilian coffee production, in which off-years with low production (such as is forecast in 2009/10) are followed by on-years with higher output. As such, it is well known that the next Brazilian crop will be higher than the current one. It was said that there is a theoretical potential for Brazil to produce crops close to 60 million bags, a point that has been made by many coffee analysts. However, it was pointed out that this would require ideal climatic and economic conditions. At no point was it implied that such conditions could be expected to prevail in next year’s crop, even if only because it is premature to speak about the 2010/11 crop at this time.
  The ICO does not produce crop estimates for any Member country and relies on production figures supplied by its designated official contacts. This can be seen in the April edition of its Monthly Market Report, which states that: “With regard to crop year 2009/10, I have just received the second estimate from CONAB, the government agency responsible for agricultural estimates in Brazil. Production is forecast to reach 39.1 million bags, of which 28.3 million bags of Arabica and 10.8 million of Robusta. I am waiting for information from other origins before providing an estimate of world production in 2009/10.” This continues to be the official position of the ICO.
  The Executive Director hopes this will dispel any misunderstanding that may have arisen.
  
  

• Signature of the International Coffee Agreement 2007 – Mexico: H.E. Mr Juan José Bremer, Ambassador for Mexico, signed the 2007 Agreement on 23 June 2009.  Depositary notification l Photo
  
  

• Coffee market report from the Executive Director: The impact of the shortfall in Colombian production continues to influence the market and coffee prices rose sharply during May 2009, with the monthly average of the ICO composite indicator price at 123.05 US cents per lb compared with 111.61 US cents per lb in April. The increase was particularly marked in the case of Colombian Milds with prices rising to 212.05 US cents per lb, their highest level since June 1997. The differential for this type of coffee with respect to the New York futures market widened further, increasing by more than 28% in relation to the figure for April. Coffee market report May 2009

• Spanish Coffee Federation:  The Executive Director was invited to make a presentation to the Federación Española del Café on the occasion of the 2009 Tea and Coffee World Cup Europe and the third Coffee Day, which took place in Seville, Spain from 7 to 9 June 2009.  Mr Osorio made a presentation analysing developments in the global coffee situation.  More
  
  

• Green Coffee Association Convention 2009:  The Executive Director, Mr Néstor Osorio, was invited to make a keynote address to the Green Coffee Association Convention Inc..  The Convention was held in Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA from 4 to 6 June 2009.  Mr. Osorio made a presentation on the global coffee situation in the context of the world economic crisis and reviewed the outlook for coffee in the USA and worldwide. The Executive Director was also invited to speak about the current situation and prospects for the world coffee market at a meeting of Latin American associations in the USA held in New York on 2 June 2009. More
  
  

• 6^th Cafés do Brasil Research Symposium:  The Head of Operations, Mr José  Sette, was invited to speak at the 6^th Cafés do Brasil Research Symposium, held in Vitória, Brazil from 2 to 5 June 2009.  The event is held every two years and brings together researchers from all the coffee-growing areas in Brazil to discuss the latest advances in coffee science.  More
  

• The Common Fund for Commodities announced on 7 April 2009 that a new project sponsored by the ICO with the aim of building capacity in coffee certification and verification for specialty coffee farmers in Eastern Africa has been approved by its Executive Board.  The total cost of the project is US$4,495,725 and it will be implemented in Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. More l Document 
  
  
• The Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) held its 12th Annual Exposition in Atlanta from 16 to 19 April 2009. This year, for the first time, it was preceded by a Symposium on 15 and 16 April aimed at exchanging ideas on challenging issues facing the specialty coffee industry.  The ICO Executive Director participated in a panel on the ‘State and future of specialty coffee’ together with Rocky Laverty (CEO, Farmer Brothers Coffee), Pat O’Dea (CEO, Peet’s Coffee and Tea), Doug Zell (CEO, Intelligentsia Coffee and Tea) and David Griswold (Sustainable Harvest).   The panellists debated a range of issues, in particular the impact of the global economic crisis, using a preliminary evaluation by the ICO on the effects of the crisis on the coffee sector as a reference for discussions. The symposium also included break-out sessions on topics such as the effects of global warming, supply and demand forecasts, coffee safety and the costs of production.  
  
  
• The Executive Director, Mr Néstor Osorio, was invited to attend the UNCTAD Secretary-General’s Multi-stakeholder consultation on trade and development issues relating to coffee. The consultation took place on 8 April 2009 in Geneva and was held back-to-back with UNCTAD’s multi-year expert meeting on commodities and development on 6 and 7 April. The purpose of the meeting was to review the opportunities and challenges for trade in coffee in the evolving global economic and trade environment, and to identify ways in which low-income coffee-dependent developing countries can be assisted to respond to the challenges and opportunities of commodity markets, thereby enhancing the sector´s contribution to poverty reduction, economic growth and development.  The Secretary-General of UNCTAD, Mr Supachai Panitchpakdi, chaired the event and the Executive Director made a presentation analysing trends in supply and demand and  opportunities and challenges for the world coffee sector. Executive Director’s presentation I Audio-presentations I Documents

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