Here at DR Wakefield, we publish regular reports on how the global coffee market is performing and we've decided to start breaking these down and looking at their findings in a little more detail.
The reports can contain a lot of information, so in the first part of this mini series analysing the report dated September 15th to September 19th, we're going to look at how prices and currencies were affected by various goings-on in the world.
This week saw Scotland vote in its referendum on independence, with the majority opting to stay in the UK. However, this had a significant impact on the pound sterling, due to the uncertainty surrounding the vote's outcome.
Once the result of the poll was announced though, the pound recovered in terms of both US and European value, following slight losses in recent weeks as election campaigns took place throughout the UK.
Due to the referendum, the sterling to dollar conversion rose slightly throughout the week, with £1 equating to $1.6408 – the highest level it had risen to in a fortnight.
After the 'no' vote was announced on Thursday 18th, the conversion rate reached $1.6362. By Friday, this had decreased slightly, but it was still higher than at the beginning of the week, coming in at $1.6315.
In terms of the European market, the pound to euro conversion came in at a two-year high at the start of the week, with £1 equalling €1.2732. This then increased even further after the result of the vote came in, reaching €1.28.
The fluctuations in value throughout the week were largely due to the uncertainty surrounding the independence referendum, as traders were unsure until the result was announced on Thursday how imports and exports would perform in an independent Scotland.
However, whether or not the currency increases will continue as Scotland stays in the UK and the market continues to trade in a similar way to before, only time will tell.