Coffee Jumps 12.3% After ICE Margin Hike Dries Up Futures Liquidity
Updated
Updated · Barchart · Jul 9
Coffee Jumps 12.3% After ICE Margin Hike Dries Up Futures Liquidity
3 articles · Updated · Barchart · Jul 9
Summary
September arabica coffee surged 12.30% Thursday and September robusta gained 8.07%, extending this week’s violent swings as trading thinned after ICE raised margin requirements.
ICE’s hike forced many commodity funds to cut positions, leaving an illiquid market prone to one-way moves rather than balanced price discovery.
Brazil’s 2026/27 harvest was only 52% complete by July 1, below 60% a year earlier and the five-year 55% average, after heavy rains disrupted fieldwork and raised crop-quality concerns.
Weather risk is still building: Rural Clima warned mid-July rain could hurt crops, while traders say El Niño may delay key September-October flowering rains in Brazil.
Tighter nearby supply added support, with ICE arabica inventories falling to a 2.25-year low of 346,419 bags, even as larger Brazil and Vietnam crops remain a longer-term bearish counterweight.