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Here’s why the bet is on pricier lattes and chocolate bars
Uniquely vulnerable to vagaries of the weather, tropical forest crops are like canaries in the coal mine of global warming.
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Tropical forest crops have constituted four of the best performers among major commodity futures since August with coffee having more than doubled in price.
ST PHOTO: FELINE LIM
David Fickling
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Looking for an investment idea that’s paid off handsomely in commodities markets over the past six months? Try betting on the tropics.
Tropical forest crops have constituted four of the best performers among major commodity futures since early August. Coffee (in both its more flavoursome arabica and basic robusta varieties) has more than doubled in price, as my colleague Javier Blas has written. Rubber, cocoa and palm oil are all up by more than 20 per cent over the same period. Coconut oil, though not widely traded, is also doing well: Spot prices in Amsterdam are up about 27 per cent.
