Arabica coffee fell to the lowest in almost five years in New York on ample supplies from Brazil and Colombia, the biggest growers of the beans favoured by Starbucks Corp. Brazil’s crop will be a record for a year in which trees enter the lower-yielding half of a two-year cycle, broker INTL FCStone Inc. said yesterday. Conditions for the development of next year’s harvest appear to be “good,” it said. Farmers in Colombia will reap 10.6 million to 10.8 million bags in 2013, exceeding a target of 10 million bags, the Colombian Coffee Growers Federation said. Central America started harvesting last month. A bag weighs 132 pounds.“The global coffee harvest kicked into high gear in Colombia, Central America and Brazil,” FCStone said. “The Brazilian ‘off-year’ crop is expected to come in a new record high and is one of the reasons prices are struggling.” Arabica for December delivery fell 0.3 percent to $1.034 a pound by 5:57 a.m. on ICE Futures U.S. in New York after dropping earlier today to $1.031, the lowest for a most-active contract since Dec. 5, 2008. Prices are probably heading for $1, FCStone said. Robusta coffee for January delivery fell 1 percent to $1,468 a metric ton on NYSE Liffe in London. Futures traded in New York declined 28 percent this year, making the beans the third-worst performer in the Standard & Poor’s gauge of 24 raw materials, after corn and silver. Consumers ought to benefit from low price but coffee is a labour-intensive crop and picking is still largely done by hand. Additionally, wages in Brazil and Colombia are rising fast and production costs are above prices, so for the best coffee there’s probably no chance of a cheap shot. Irrespective of price, we’ll still be having our morning coffee!