Coffee Rises to Three-Week High on Tight Supplies; Cocoa Falls

May 3 (Bloomberg) -- Coffee climbed to a three-week high in New York on signs of tightening supplies from Brazil and Colombia, the world’s largest suppliers of high-quality beans. Cocoa prices fell.

Coffee stockpiles in warehouses monitored by ICE Futures U.S. have dropped 22 percent this year. Roasters have to “scramble to find some good-quality” beans, said Marcio Bernardo, an analyst at Newedge USA LLC in New York.

“There is still that positive fundamental giving support,” Bernardo said. “There is a lack of high-quality coffee around in the physical market.”

Arabica coffee for July delivery rose 3.25 cents, or 2.4 percent, to $1.3855 a pound on ICE. Earlier, the price reached $1.3865, the highest level for a most-active contract since April 7.

Arabica coffee is grown mainly in Latin America and brewed by specialty companies including Starbucks Corp. Robusta beans, used in instant coffee, are harvested mostly in Asia and parts of Africa.

Global coffee exports dropped to 8.79 million bags in March, from 9.3 million a year earlier, the International Coffee Organization said on April 30. A bag weighs 60 kilograms (132 pounds).

Cocoa futures for July delivery fell $6, or 0.2 percent, to $3,233 a metric ton in New York. The price has dropped 1.7 percent this year.