Coffee futures spike after unexpected frost in Brazil rattles the market

• Arabica coffee futures are up 10.8% to hit their highest in more than six years as the impact of a damaging frost in Brazil is factored in by traders. Robusta coffee futures are also sharply higher.

• The unexpected frost impacted the important Minas Gerais and Sao Paulo regions earlier this week and left some farmers no choice but to take out their trees and replant them due to their extremely sensitive to cold temperatures. The freeze is having the biggest impact on coffee trees under four years old. Analysts are still working out what the impact on supply will be for this year and next.

• The iPath Series B Bloomberg Coffee Subindex Total Return ETN (NYSEARCA:JO) is up 9.70% and traded at a new high of $54.87 earlier in the session.

• Consumer-facing companies typically hedge many of their coffee costs, but could see an impact on input costs down the road.