US coffee futures rose about 1 percent Thursday as speculators bought back their short positions amid worries that Hurricane Rita may spell more trouble for unroasted coffee beans stored in hurricane-stricken Louisiana, market sources said.
Just three weeks after Hurricane Katrina plowed into New Orleans, damaging some of the 1.6 million 60-kg bags of coffee stored in the city's port, the powerful Rita storm was on a course to hit the US Gulf Coast by early Saturday.
Most storm models show Rita striking west of Louisiana, but market players fear its rains could cause more flooding in New Orleans, where some 26 percent of US unroasted coffee sits.
The New York Board of Trade's benchmark December arabica gained 1.20 cents to settle at 92.30 cents a lb, having dealt from 90.70 to 93.50 cents. March rose 1.0 cent to 95.70 cents, and the back months advanced 0.50 to 1.10 cents. Futures trading volume was estimated at 9,929 lots, down from the official tally of 13,413 contracts the previous day.
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