* Liffe says will make announcement within weeks
* ECF welcomes development, awaits Liffe announcement
By Sarah McFarlane
LONDON, May 8 (Reuters) – Global derivatives exchange NYSE
Liffe plans to regulate warehouse load out rates for
certified robusta coffee as delivery delays have frustrated
trade houses and roasters in Europe, sources familiar with the
matter said.
The exchange is expected to update its grading and warehouse
keeping procedures (GWP) in June to include the load out
requirements, which will be effective from September 1, sources
said.
“We’re currently looking at the rates and we’ll be making an
announcement in the next few weeks,” said a spokesman at Liffe,
declining to give further detail.
Sources said that the updated GWP will stipulate that
warehouses holding less than 30,000 tonnes of certified coffee
will be required to move out a minimum of 250 tonnes per day,
while those holding in excess of this volume will be required to
move out a minimum of 500 tonnes per day.
Previously, the exchange did not regulate outward delivery
rates but industry sources said warehouses could move out around
200 tonnes of coffee per day, at times a tiny fraction of stocks
which can run into tens of thousands of tonnes.
Antwerp is where the majority of coffee is stored in Europe,
and after global stocks of robusta coffee certified by Liffe
were concentrated in a few warehouses there, some coffee firms
had to wait months to get supplies out of warehouses last year.
The European Coffee Federation (ECF) contacted Liffe last
year about the rate warehouses release coffee, which is often
slower than the rate at which they take it in.
“It looks like a very positive and encouraging development
but we will have to wait until Liffe makes the announcement for
more details,” said Roel Vaessen, Secretary General of the
European Coffee Federation.
The logjams experienced in coffee warehouses mirror a
controversy in metals markets, where moves by the London Metal
Exchange to speed deliveries and cut delays were criticised by
buyers as too weak a response. [ID: nL5E8G479W]
