(Bloomberg) -- Robusta coffee futures rose in an increasingly volatile market with prices buoyed by logistical snarls and rising demand for beans ahead of the world’s peak consumption season.

The ICE front-month robusta contract climbed 7.5% this month after reaching a decade-high last week amid larger-than-expected draw-downs of inventories. Certified stocks of arabica coffee in ICE warehouses dropped by 9.1% in October, while robusta inventories are down 4.9% to their lowest in a year.

Weather conditions in Brazil look set to decimate the current arabica crop which, combined with a container shortage in Vietnam, has left coffee roasters in Europe and the U.S. scurrying to pick up beans of both varieties. Some, including Nestle SA, have said that the soaring cost of coffee will inevitably get passed on to consumers in the coming year.

Robusta futures remain in backwardation, a bullish structure marked by near-term prices commanding a premium to those further out, as traders speculate on whether swelling stockpiles of unexported coffee in robusta giant Vietnam will eventually get shipped. 

“The biggest uncertainty is how much the big trading houses manage to export (in bags or in bulk) out of Asia that could be delivered against January and thus prevent a further backwardation then,” analysts at Rabobank said in a Wednesday report.

In other soft commodities, white sugar is set for a third consecutive monthly gain as high energy costs in top producers Brazil and India raise concerns that more cane will be processed into now profitable ethanol, capping refined exports for the coming year.

Cotton is higher for the fifth straight month, gaining 6.2% in October, with U.S. overseas sales booming amid consistent demand from China.

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