Coffee Spread Dampens Arabica Bean Demand, As Asian Robusta Heats Up: BNP Paribas

Wide price spreads for two types of coffee beans traded in New York and London dampen demand for the world's most popular coffee bean, Latin America's Arabica, just as demand for Asian Robusta rises. "If you had a little more spread, then you would be growing that [Arabica] demand much stronger," said BNP Paribas SA (EPA:BNP) agricultural strategist Keith Flury at a coffee industry conference on Saturday. "But you're not: you're growing the Robusta demand."