Price of coffee beans rises to highest level since 2012

Price of coffee beans to the highest level since 2012

The price of coffee beans continues to rise. Arabica beans, used by most coffee chains such as Starbucks, have already become 85 percent more expensive this year. In New York, futures contracts for arabica beans rose by 1.5 percent on Thursday, peaking at $2.38 per pound (2.10 euros). That is the highest price since 2012.

The cheaper robusta beans, often used for ready-to-drink coffee drinks, increased by 0.4 percent.

There are several reasons for this continuing price increase. Earlier this year, drought and unexpected frost in Brazil resulted in smaller harvests. But the higher prices for transporting the coffee beans also play a role. Due to crowds in the major ports, Brazil could ship less coffee. There would still be 400 million pounds of beans in storage. Vietnam, the largest producer of robusta beans, is also experiencing disruptions on major trade routes.

The continuing increase also has to do with the way the market works. Traders who bet on price declines have recently had to admit that those declines weren't there after all. Covering their losses with price increases caused a further increase in the coffee bean price.