COLOMBIA'S COFFEE MARKETING TO BE MORE FLEXIBLE

  Colombia intends to improve the
  marketing of its coffee with the accent on more flexibility on
  setting export registration prices, finance minister Cesar
  Gaviria said.
      Speaking to reporters after announcing a lower export
  registration price, or reintegro, of 1.10 dlr per lb ex-dock
  New York, Gaviria said export mechanisms would be more agile.
      "In the first stage, we decided not only to lower the
  reintegro but also to adopt a flexible policy of reintegro that
  will allow private exporters to participate more actively in
  Colombia's coffee export policy," he said.
      Traders said this means the export registration price will
  change more often in a truer reflection of market trends.
      Gaviria said the measures merely responded to new market
  factors since a return to a system of International Coffee
  Organisation (ICO) export quotas may not occur in the short
  term.
      ICO talks last month in London failed to break a deadlock
  over re-introduction of export quotas, suspended in February
  1986.
      Gaviria stressed that Colombia will not necessarily suffer
  from depressed prices because it can compensate lower prices
  with increased volume.
      "Colombia will continue to export its traditional amount of
  coffee, between 9.6 and 10 mln bags (of 60 kilos), and will do
  so without an agreement among producers," he said.
      He ruled out a much higher volume of exports, or up to 13.5
  mln bags as mentioned in market circles, "because the idea is
  precisely not to disrupt the market."
      Colombia exported a record 11.5 mln bags in the 1985/86
  coffee year which ended last September 30.
      Echoing Gaviria's words, Jorge Cardenas, manager of the
  national coffee growers' federation, said Colombia sought to
  adapt its coffee marketing policy to circumstances.
      "There is great expectation in the world for the policies
  that Brazil and Colombia will adopt. Ours is beginning to
  emerge and no agreement among producers is foreseeable in the
  immediate future," he told journalists.
      Trade sources in Rio today said Brazil's future export
  policy was unlikely to be revealed before the end of next week.
      Cardenas said a new ICO meeting could only take place when
  problems that hindered an agreement at the recent London talks
  have been resolved.
      Asked to comment on a Reuter report from Jakarta saying
  Indonesia hoped Colombia could use its contacts with Brazil to
  suggest a compromise on the quota issue, Cardenas said the
  Brazilian stand was quite clear.
      He said Brazil's current quota "reflects the reality of the
  market, allows for an orderly supply and satisfies demand," but
  added more clarity was needed to assess the criteria that
  determined it.
      Cardenas said lows registered immediately after the failure
  of the London talks were triggered by a widespread fear among
  dealers of an imminent price war and the belief that producers
  would go out and sell their coffee as quickly as possible,
  which did not happen.
  

