Brazil ’15 Coffee Crop Will Be Below 40m Bags, Ganes-Chase Says

By Marvin G. Perez

Sept. 30 (Bloomberg) -- “Every week that passes without enough rain is going to make the situation worse,” Judy Ganes-Chase, president of J. Ganes Consulting in Panama City, Panama, said yday in telephone interview Forecast compares with projection of 49.5m bags this yr by USDA, which “‘was probably overestimated’’ by as much as 3m bags ‘‘Coming into this season, potential was already low, from 43m to 44m bags, hurt by high pruning, lack of vegetative growth and lack of fertilizer” NOTE: Brazil is world’s top grower and producer; bag weighs 60 kgs, or 132 lbs NOTE: Through yday, arabica futures in N.Y. surged 73% this year after 1Q drought damaged crops Slumping Brazilian real helps cap coffee rally, she says Low prices in previous three yrs prompted growers to use less fertilizer, and dryness causes roots to separate from cracked soil, preventing plants from absorbing nutrients, Ganes-Chase says As spring begins in South Hemisphere, higher temperatures are evaporating moisture faster NOTE: Crop seen getting little relief from dryness, World Weather Inc. said yday NOTE: Reservoir levels in southeast, where bulk of crops are grown, were 25.7% of capacity on Sept. 28, compared with 30.3% at end-Aug., according to data from power-grid operator ONS