ICE to raise price premium for deliveries of Colombian coffee
By Marcelo Teixeira
NEW YORK, Jan 16 (Reuters) - The Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) will raise the price premiums for physical deliveries of some types of arabica coffee at the expiration of futures contracts at the exchange, including for Colombian beans, the exchange said on Tuesday.
ICE said in a note to the market that commencing with the March 2026 contract expiry, there will be changes to the price differentials for the deliveries of coffees from Colombia, Kenya, Costa Rica and Guatemala.
It said Colombian coffee deliveries will see a premium of 10 cents per pound from the current premium of 4 cents per pound over the futures.
Coffees from Kenya and Guatemala will also have a price premium of 10 cents over futures. The two origins are currently delivered at par.
For Guatemala, there will be a premium of 5 cents per pound, from at par currently.
ICE did not say why it making the changes, however the higher premiums could encourage deliveries of high quality washed beans from those four countries, which currently have very low or no share of the certified arabica stocks.
"It brings (exchange prices) for the beans closer to the reality of the cash market," said Judith Ganes, president of J. Ganes Consulting.
"It will help to bring more coffee to the Board," she said.
ICE arabica stocks are currently at the lowest levels since 1999.
Honduras and Brazil have the largest shares of the certified stocks, by far.
Honduras delivers coffee at par with futures prices, while Brazil has a discount of 6 cents per pound. There were no changes on the prices for those two coffees.
(Reporting by Marcelo Teixeira; Editing by Sonali Paul)
