Le cartel du café ferme ses portes
L’Association des pays producteurs de café (ACPC), qui rassemble 17 membres africains sur 28, arrête ses activités en janvier 2002. Elle a échoué à contrôler les prix des cours mondiaux mais espère refaire surface un jour.
mardi 23 octobre 2001
L’Association des pays producteurs de café (ACPC)vient d’annoncer sa fermeture officielle pour janvier 2002. Ce cartel du café, dont les 28 membres produisent 70% de l’offre mondiale, fermera ses portes après avoir échoué dans sa mission : contrôler les prix des cours internationaux du café.
Le secrétaire général de l’Association, Roberio Silva a déclaré que la faiblesse de ces prix internationaux avaient empêché de nombreux pays membres - notamment africains - de payer à l’ACPC les cotisations qui lui permettent d’exister. De plus, il a souligné que les pays n’ont pas réussi à se soumettre aux niveaux de production recommandés par le cartel. Ce qui est , selon lui, une autre raison de mettre la clé sous la porte.
Plan de rétention
L’Association, qui siège à Londres, a été créée il y a huit ans pour contrôler et réguler le prix du café en ajustant la production. Mais le cartel s’est révélé impuissant à stopper la chute vertigineuse du prix des cours de café.
Roberio Silva a expliqué que l’Association reprendrait ses opérations lorsque les pays membres pourront à nouveau payer leurs cotisations. " Nous arrêtons nos activités à cause de la crise actuelle mais elle ne s’éternisera pas. C’est la nature cyclique du marché qui veut ça ". Cette année, le record devrait être atteint avec 118 millions de sacs de café produits (de 60 kg chacun), soit une surproduction de 10% par rapport à la demande. En juillet 2000, l’ACPC avait demandé à ces membres de réduire leurs exportations de 20% dans le cadre d’un " plan de rétention ", afin de faire augmenter le prix des cours.
" Malgré les efforts fournis par certains pays afin d’appliquer le plan et les effets positifs que celui-ci a eu lors des premiers mois de l’opération, les prix n’ont pas réagi comme nous l’attendions ", déclarait l’Association en septembre dernier. Le plan a été abandonné le 1er octobre dernier.
Malgré la fermeture des bureaux londoniens de l’ACPC, le contrat qui lie les pays membres continuera d’exister, permettant au cartel de redémarrer lorsque la situation le permettra.
Les pays africains membres de l’Association des pays producteurs de café : Angola, Burundi, Cameroun, République Centrafricaine, Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, République Démocratique du Congo, Ethiopie, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzanie, Togo, Ouganda.
Showing posts with label association of coffee producing countries. Show all posts
Showing posts with label association of coffee producing countries. Show all posts
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Collapse of the Association of Coffee Producing Countries
Coffee price slump puts producers on the spot
John Madeley
The Guardian, Thursday February 22 2001 Article history
An international plan by coffee-producing countries to hold back 20% of exports seems to have done nothing to persuade coffee traders that world prices could soon be back on the boil.
The prices of the best coffee bean, arabica, halved on world markets in the year to January, from 126 US cents to 63 cents a pound, slipping to 59.80 cents last week, the lowest for a generation. Robusta beans, used for blended and instant coffees, have fared much the same and now stand at around 30 cents.
Last October members of the Association of Coffee Producing Countries (ACPC) agreed to retain a fifth of exports in order to raise prices, which they say are too low to provide an economic return. Vietnam, the world's second-largest producer,has backed the plan and will hold back 2.5m 60kg bags - the standard measure for coffee and amounting to 150,000 tonnes - from the market.
In real terms world coffee prices are less than a quarter of 1970 levels. Vietnam's emergence as a major producer, accounting for a tenth of global output, is a chief factor behind a rise in world production and a slump in prices. The fall has been catastrophic for countries such as Ethiopia and Uganda, which rely on coffee for foreign exchange earnings.
After an ACPC meeting in London in January, the association's secretary-general, Roberio Silva, predicted that the retention plan would raise prices "within a month". Brazil, the largest producer, accounting for more than a quarter of world output, has so far retained 2.2m 60kg bags, more than 10% of its exports last year, Colombia 600,000 bags and Mexico 90,000 bags.
Yet, despite the mushrooming of coffee bars in the high streets of Western countries, supply still exceeds demand. The International Coffee Organisation estimates that production in 2000-2001 will be 113m bags, of which nearly 11m will remain unsold. A total of 88.5m bags were exported in 2000, and the retention by the producers of 20% of that - 18m bags - means demand should run ahead of supply, swinging the price back in the producers' favour.
This happened in the mid-70s, when frost in Brazil and disruptions to supplies from other countries reduced world output by a quarter. The price more than tripled as a result. A cutback of 20% could be expected to at least double the world price.
But the retention plan requires discipline from producers. Holding back exports leaves unsold coffee in producing countries, which growers may be tempted to dispose of in "back door" deals at low prices rather than see it rot. Burning the surpluses is one option. The other is for producers to cut acreages. But production quotas would be even more difficult to enforce than export quotas.
The low prices are, however, likely to mean "natural" cutbacks in output. Mexico, which last year harvested 6.3m bags, is this year expected to produce only 3.5m as growers find the crop uneconomic.
The tragedy for most of the 10m people who grow coffee is that, although higher world prices will benefit the ACPC, on the ground they could make little difference. Most coffee is traded down a line of dealers before export and can change hands 150 times. The growers' returns will stay meagre. A period of low prices in the early 90s left many destitute.
But around half a million coffee growers are now receiving more than three times the world price in an alternative market. They are those who formed farmers' organisations to sell directly to coffee roasting companies awarded the "Fairtrade Mark". The companies must pay a price that gives growers a guaranteed return, including a premium for social investment. Sales of Fairtrade coffee in the UK are booming - they rose by an average 47% a year between 1994 and 1999.
Fairtrade roasters such as Edinburgh-based Café Direct, which buys from 17 farmers' organisations in nine countries, pay arabica growers 126 cents a pound and robusta growers 106 cents, whatever the world price.
Although the world price has halved in the past year, there has been little change in shop prices. "The price of the beans is a very small part of the cost of a jar of coffee," said a Nestlé spokesman. That so much is spent on packaging, marketing and distribution can be of little comfort to those at either end of the chain. The Observer
John Madeley
The Guardian, Thursday February 22 2001 Article history
An international plan by coffee-producing countries to hold back 20% of exports seems to have done nothing to persuade coffee traders that world prices could soon be back on the boil.
The prices of the best coffee bean, arabica, halved on world markets in the year to January, from 126 US cents to 63 cents a pound, slipping to 59.80 cents last week, the lowest for a generation. Robusta beans, used for blended and instant coffees, have fared much the same and now stand at around 30 cents.
Last October members of the Association of Coffee Producing Countries (ACPC) agreed to retain a fifth of exports in order to raise prices, which they say are too low to provide an economic return. Vietnam, the world's second-largest producer,has backed the plan and will hold back 2.5m 60kg bags - the standard measure for coffee and amounting to 150,000 tonnes - from the market.
In real terms world coffee prices are less than a quarter of 1970 levels. Vietnam's emergence as a major producer, accounting for a tenth of global output, is a chief factor behind a rise in world production and a slump in prices. The fall has been catastrophic for countries such as Ethiopia and Uganda, which rely on coffee for foreign exchange earnings.
After an ACPC meeting in London in January, the association's secretary-general, Roberio Silva, predicted that the retention plan would raise prices "within a month". Brazil, the largest producer, accounting for more than a quarter of world output, has so far retained 2.2m 60kg bags, more than 10% of its exports last year, Colombia 600,000 bags and Mexico 90,000 bags.
Yet, despite the mushrooming of coffee bars in the high streets of Western countries, supply still exceeds demand. The International Coffee Organisation estimates that production in 2000-2001 will be 113m bags, of which nearly 11m will remain unsold. A total of 88.5m bags were exported in 2000, and the retention by the producers of 20% of that - 18m bags - means demand should run ahead of supply, swinging the price back in the producers' favour.
This happened in the mid-70s, when frost in Brazil and disruptions to supplies from other countries reduced world output by a quarter. The price more than tripled as a result. A cutback of 20% could be expected to at least double the world price.
But the retention plan requires discipline from producers. Holding back exports leaves unsold coffee in producing countries, which growers may be tempted to dispose of in "back door" deals at low prices rather than see it rot. Burning the surpluses is one option. The other is for producers to cut acreages. But production quotas would be even more difficult to enforce than export quotas.
The low prices are, however, likely to mean "natural" cutbacks in output. Mexico, which last year harvested 6.3m bags, is this year expected to produce only 3.5m as growers find the crop uneconomic.
The tragedy for most of the 10m people who grow coffee is that, although higher world prices will benefit the ACPC, on the ground they could make little difference. Most coffee is traded down a line of dealers before export and can change hands 150 times. The growers' returns will stay meagre. A period of low prices in the early 90s left many destitute.
But around half a million coffee growers are now receiving more than three times the world price in an alternative market. They are those who formed farmers' organisations to sell directly to coffee roasting companies awarded the "Fairtrade Mark". The companies must pay a price that gives growers a guaranteed return, including a premium for social investment. Sales of Fairtrade coffee in the UK are booming - they rose by an average 47% a year between 1994 and 1999.
Fairtrade roasters such as Edinburgh-based Café Direct, which buys from 17 farmers' organisations in nine countries, pay arabica growers 126 cents a pound and robusta growers 106 cents, whatever the world price.
Although the world price has halved in the past year, there has been little change in shop prices. "The price of the beans is a very small part of the cost of a jar of coffee," said a Nestlé spokesman. That so much is spent on packaging, marketing and distribution can be of little comfort to those at either end of the chain. The Observer
The Collapse of the Association of Coffee Producers' Countries
Coffee cartel shuts up shop
Friday, 19 October, 2001, 16:09 GMT 17:09 UK
source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/1608356.stm
The coffee bean cartel, the Association of Coffee Producing Countries, whose members produce 70% of the global supply, will shut down in January after failing to control international prices.
Association general secretary Roberio Silva told BBC News Online that weak international coffee prices had made it impossible for many member countries, especially in Africa, to pay the fees which allow it to operate.
ACPC members
Angola
Brazil
Colombia
Costa Rica
Ivory Coast
DR Congo
El Salvador
India
Indonesia
Kenya
Tanzania
Togo
Uganda
Venezuela
Mr Silva also said the failure of member countries to comply with the cartel's production levels was a reason for the closure.
Coffee prices fell to a 30-year low on Monday as above-average rainfall in Brazil, the group's largest grower, fuelled speculation of a bumper crop.
The association was set up in London eight years ago to control the price of coffee by adjusting supply, in much the same was as the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) controls the price of crude oil.
Bottoming out?
But the cartel has seemed powerless to stop the rapid fall of coffee bean prices.
Mr Silva stressed that the London-based organisation would resume operations once members could pay their dues again.
"We are closing down the activities because of the current crisis, but we do not expect the crisis to last for a long, long time," said Mr Silva, explaining the cyclical nature of the market.
While it may seem that prices would fall further by abandoning the cartel, Mr Silva says the market is likely to turn itself around in a couple of years time.
When prices fall below a certain level, the countries will stop producing.
And in time, this will then push prices back up.
"The market is close to its bottom," said Mr Silva.
Bean glut
The supply of coffee, which is currently growing at 3.6% per year, is outstripping demand, which is rising at just 1.5%.
The industry is expected to produce a record 118 million bags of coffee, each weighing 60 kilogrammes, representing an oversupply of about 10%.
Production is rising rapidly because countries such as Vietnam, which entered the market only recently, are expanding their coffee plantations rapidly while staying outside the cartel.
Last month the association abandoned attempts to boost coffee prices by asking its members to withhold 20% under a "retention plan".
"Despite efforts made by some member countries in implementing the Retention Plan and the positive effects achieved in the first months of operation, prices have not reacted as expected," the association said in a statement in September.
When the major producing countries discovered that other producing countries were not withholding their quota, they no longer wanted to comply, explained Mr Silva.
While the office will be closing down in January, the political agreement between member countries will continue to exist, enabling the cartel to be re-started at some point in the future.
Friday, 19 October, 2001, 16:09 GMT 17:09 UK
source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/1608356.stm
The coffee bean cartel, the Association of Coffee Producing Countries, whose members produce 70% of the global supply, will shut down in January after failing to control international prices.
Association general secretary Roberio Silva told BBC News Online that weak international coffee prices had made it impossible for many member countries, especially in Africa, to pay the fees which allow it to operate.
ACPC members
Angola
Brazil
Colombia
Costa Rica
Ivory Coast
DR Congo
El Salvador
India
Indonesia
Kenya
Tanzania
Togo
Uganda
Venezuela
Mr Silva also said the failure of member countries to comply with the cartel's production levels was a reason for the closure.
Coffee prices fell to a 30-year low on Monday as above-average rainfall in Brazil, the group's largest grower, fuelled speculation of a bumper crop.
The association was set up in London eight years ago to control the price of coffee by adjusting supply, in much the same was as the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) controls the price of crude oil.
Bottoming out?
But the cartel has seemed powerless to stop the rapid fall of coffee bean prices.
Mr Silva stressed that the London-based organisation would resume operations once members could pay their dues again.
"We are closing down the activities because of the current crisis, but we do not expect the crisis to last for a long, long time," said Mr Silva, explaining the cyclical nature of the market.
While it may seem that prices would fall further by abandoning the cartel, Mr Silva says the market is likely to turn itself around in a couple of years time.
When prices fall below a certain level, the countries will stop producing.
And in time, this will then push prices back up.
"The market is close to its bottom," said Mr Silva.
Bean glut
The supply of coffee, which is currently growing at 3.6% per year, is outstripping demand, which is rising at just 1.5%.
The industry is expected to produce a record 118 million bags of coffee, each weighing 60 kilogrammes, representing an oversupply of about 10%.
Production is rising rapidly because countries such as Vietnam, which entered the market only recently, are expanding their coffee plantations rapidly while staying outside the cartel.
Last month the association abandoned attempts to boost coffee prices by asking its members to withhold 20% under a "retention plan".
"Despite efforts made by some member countries in implementing the Retention Plan and the positive effects achieved in the first months of operation, prices have not reacted as expected," the association said in a statement in September.
When the major producing countries discovered that other producing countries were not withholding their quota, they no longer wanted to comply, explained Mr Silva.
While the office will be closing down in January, the political agreement between member countries will continue to exist, enabling the cartel to be re-started at some point in the future.
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