Rabobank lowers Brazil 2016/17 coffee forecast on weak robusta crop

NEW YORK: Rabobank's Q3 coffee outlook 2016: Lowers Brazil 2016/17 total coffee output to 52.4 million bags, due to a 200,000-bag drop in its robusta estimate to 12.4 million bags and dry weather since its March crop survey.

Raises projected global coffee deficit for 2016/17 by 600,000 bags to 2.5 million bags due to robusta tightness.

Says weather in Brazilian robusta regions continues to be drier than normal, which is threatening natural flowering for the 2017/18 crop.

Says coffee prices may drop below $1.40 a lb if Brazil arabica flowers fix at normal rate.