COFFEE FUTURES UNDER DLR A POUND AT SIX-YEAR LOW

  Coffee futures dipped further and closed
  below one dlr a pound for the first time in six years.
      Coffee for delivery in May ended at 99.28 cents a pound on
  the New York Coffee, Sugar and Cocoa Exchange, down 0.76 cent
  and the lowest price since August, 1981.
       Prices have fallen 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
  dlrs 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 to 15 cents 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.
      Cattle futures posted new highs on the Chicago Mercantile
  Exchange, while live hogs rallied from early losses and frozen
  pork bellies finished sharply lower.
      Cattle prices continued to draw support from the winter
  storm that swept the Plains states, leaving animals stranded in
  snowbound fields and feed lots in miserable condition.
      Live hogs were pressured early by the Agriculture
  Department's report Tuesday that producers expanded their
  breeding herds more than the market expected last quarter.
  Prices recovered to keep pace with higher cash prices.
      Frozen pork bellies fell sharply on the outlook for greater
  production and closed with limit losses.
      Soybean futures posted sharp gains on the Chicago Board of
  Trade, while corn and wheat were lower.
      Soybeans rallied in response to Tuesday's USDA report that
  farmers intend to plant 56.9 mln acres this year, down from
  61.5 mln planted last year.
      Corn prices were pressured by the outlook for 67.6 mln
  acres of corn, which is down from last year's 76.7 mln acres,
  but was larger than analysts expected.
  

