Coffee Eases; Orange Juice, Cotton Firm Ahead of USDA Report

  NEW YORK  -  Arabica-coffee prices slipped Wednesday as traders took profits from a four-session

rally.

  Arabica beans for delivery in May on the ICE Futures U.S. exchange were down 2.7% at $1.9130 a

pound. Futures prices had gained almost 14% over the previous four sessions on concerns that

Brazil's worst drought in decades would translate to a smaller and lower-quality crop from the

world's biggest coffee grower.

  The National Coffee Council recently reduced its estimates for the 2014 and 2015 crops, citing dry

weather in Brazil's coffee-producing belt, especially in January and February. The CNC expects this

year's crop to range from 40.1 million to 43.3 million 60-kilogram bags of coffee beans, down from

its earlier estimate of 44 million bags.

  But the higher prices are encouraging investors to cash in on the run-up and for growers to sell

their crop, said Jack Scoville, a vice president at brokerage Price Futures Group in Chicago.

  The rally "has brought out some selling," he said. "The weather in Brazil is still a major issue,

but their harvest is going to start."

  In other markets, orange-juice concentrate and cotton futures were firmer ahead of the U.S.

Department of Agriculture's monthly supply-and-demand report, scheduled for release at noon EDT.

  U.S. cotton farmers harvested their smallest crop in four years, according to the USDA, and

domestic supplies of the fiber are likely to be even smaller than expected at the end of this season

in July, according to a survey of analysts by The Wall Street Journal. Cotton for delivery in May

was up 0.3% at 92.03 cents a pound.

  Orange-juice concentrate for May was 0.3% higher at $1.5595 a pound. The USDA expects growers in

Florida to reap their smallest crop in 24 years.

  The May contract for raw sugar was 0.9% lower at 17 cents a pound, while cocoa for May was up 0.8%

at $3,015 a ton.