Grab a Cup: Coffee Prices Hit 30-Month High -- Barron's Blog

Johanna Bennett

  How much is a cup of coffee worth these days? The price of Arabica-coffee prices surged to the

highest level in 30 months Monday as dry weather in Brazil fueled concerns about next year's crop.

  Arabica coffee for delivery in December ended today at $2.2080 a pound after rising a 6.9% on the

ICE Futures U.S. exchange after earlier climbing as much as 9.2% during the day.

  The jump benefitted exchange-traded funds linked to the agricultural commodity . The iPath Dow

Jones-UBS Coffee Total Return ETN ( JO) led the charge, rising 8.2% to $42.21, making it one of the

day's fastest rising ETFs.

Meanwhile, a competing fund, iPath Pure Beta Coffee ETN ( CAFE), climbed 7.6% to $27.44.

  Brazil generates one-third of the world's coffee and about half of the world's arabica beans,

which are valued for their flavor and used in gourmet blends.

  The recently ended coffee harvest was Brazil's smallest in three years, after the main growing

region experienced its worst drought in decades in the spring. Coffee prices have nearly doubled

this year, and worries persist as to how weakened trees will fare next season.