Colombia wants coffee destroyed

BY TOBY MUSE

BOGOTA -- Colombia urged coffee producers worldwide to destroy 5 percent of their crops in another effort to increase prices, said Jorge Cárdenas, president of the National Federation of Colombian Coffee Growers.

``We should all come to an agreement that we do not offer low-quality coffee,'' Cárdenas said.

Colombia agreed in principle to a plan that would target the lowest quality coffee in each country's inventories. The plan was also agreed to at a meeting in Guatemala of Latin American coffee producers, including

Mexico, Peru, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Honduras.

He did not say how much support the proposal received.

Colombia is battling to raise prices, as global coffee production increases but demand remains static and prices are at seven-year lows. A plan, spearheaded by Colombia and Brazil, to withhold 20 percent of exports to raise the price has so far had little effect.

Cárdenas urged producers to destroy about 5 percent of their production, with some lower-quality producers destroying more.

Due to the high quality of Colombian coffee, Colombia would destroy up to 3 percent of its total, Cárdenas said. Of global production of 113 million 60-kilogram (132-pound) sacks, between 13 million and 15 million sacks of coffee are of sub-standard quality, he said.

``This coffee crisis is so grave, it affects every producing country from Vietnam to Colombia,'' Cárdenas said.

Another proposal at the conference was to create a $50 million fund to support Latin American producers who destroy their inferior coffee.

``We could participate in the fund, but we need a long-term plan to raise coffee prices, thereby benefiting everyone,'' Cárdenas said.

Global coffee production is expected to be 113 million sacks this year, while demand will only be 105 million sacks, Cárdenas said.

Coffee, Colombia's second-largest export, brought in $1.2 billion last year.