Terra Forte cut its forecast by 12%

  SAO PAULO--Terra Forte, one of Brazil's biggest coffee exporters, cut its forecast for the 2014

harvest, saying an unprecedented drought has hurt the development of the coffee plants.

  The company cut its forecast to 47.4 million 60-kilogram (132-pound) bags of coffee, from its

previous forecast of 53.7 million bags. The harvest of arabica beans, the type most often used in

gourmet coffee, accounted for the entire reduction, with Terra Forte cutting its forecast to 30

million bags from 36.3 million bags.

Terra Forte's forecast for robusta beans was unchanged at 17.4 million bags.

  Brazil's main coffee-growing regions have been hit by the driest weather in at least 30 years,

according to meteorologists. The drought comes as the coffee cherries, the fruit from which the

beans are harvested, are developing.

  "I've never seen a January and February with no rain before, and I'm older than 50," said Joaquim

Leite, export director for Terra Forte.

  Arabica coffee prices are up 60% this year on concerns that less production or lower-quality

coffee from Brazil would crimp global supplies.