Coffee bulls return as drought ravages Brazil crop production

Brazil is getting dry again and the coffee bulls are back.

Growing regions are forecast to get about half the normal rainfall this month and in February, according to Celso Oliveira, a meteorologist at Somar Meteorologia in Sao Paulo. Brazil is the world's biggest grower and exporter of the produce, spurring hedge funds to increase their bets on higher prices for the first time in six weeks.

After more than doubling to last year's peak in October amid the worst drought in decades, coffee ended 2014 in a bear market after heavy rains in November. The return of dry weather sparked renewed risks of damage to flowering coffee trees, sending prices up 12 percent last week, the biggest gain in almost 11 months.