COFFEE FUTURES AT SIX-YEAR LOW, UNDER 1 DLR/LB

  Coffee futures dipped further today and
  closed below 1 dlr a pound for the first time in six years.
      Coffee for delivery in May ended at 99.28 cents a pound on
  the Coffee, Sugar and Cocoa Exchange, down 0.76 cent and the
  lowest price since August, 1981.
       Prices have been falling steadily since the International
  Coffee Organization failed in February to reach an agreement
  controlling exports by its members, and pressure was renewed
  this week as the executive board of the organization met in
  London without reopening debate on its export quotas.
      The executive board has limited its current discussions to
  administrative matters and is set to adourn Thursday.
      Burdensome supplies have pressed the market down from 1.30
  dlr a pound in February, when the organization's discussions
  aimed at re-establishing export quotas broke down.
      Sandra Kaul, a coffee analyst in New York with Shearson
  Lehman Brothers, said supplies currently are at their high
  point for the year because most producing nations have just
  completed their harvests.
      In addition, she said, many of those nations are faced with
  serious debt and need to sell coffee to raise capital.
      "This should keep substantial pressure on exporters to
  undertake sales despite the drop in prices," she said.
      Further, U.S. demand could be sluggish because winter, the
  period of greatest consumption, is ending. Prices could fall
  another 10 cents to 15 cnts a pound, analysts said.
      Gold futures retreated from modest early gains and closed
  steady while silver prices rallied on the Commodity Exchange in
  New York.
      The increase in U.S. banks' prime rates prompted concern
  about renewed inflation, but the strength of the U.S. dollar
  discouraged new buying.
      "The market is getting mixed signals and it doesn't know
  which way to go," one analyst said.
      Gold futures retreated from modest early gains and closed
  steady while silver prices rallied on the Commodity Exchange in
  New York.
      The increase in U.S. banks' prime rates prompted concern
  about renewed inflation, but the strength of the U.S. dollar
  discouraged new buying.
      "The market is getting mixed signals and it doesn't know
  which way to go," one analyst said.
  

