San Francisco is better equipped with modern unloading machinery and other apparatus than either New Orleans or New York, even more liberal use being made there than in New Orleans of the automatic-belt conveyors both for transferring the bags from the ships to the docks and for stacking them in high tiers on the pier. Another notable feature of the modern coffee docks is that the newer ones are of steel and concrete and, as in New Orleans, are covered to protect the coffee from wind and storm.
Europe's Great Coffee Markets
One of the Modern Devices Used in San Francisco for Handling Green Coffee
Europe has three great coffee-trading markets—Havre, Hamburg, and Antwerp. Rotterdam and Amsterdam are also important coffee centers, but rank far below the others named. In point of volume of stocks, Havre led the world before the war; while in respect to commercial transactions, it ranked second, with New York first. In pre-war days, the largest part of the world's visible supply of coffee was stored in the Havre bonded warehouses, being available for shipment to any part of Europe on short notice, or even to the United States in emergencies. Even during the World War, this French port remained a powerful factor in international coffee trading. Coffee trading in Havre, both exchange and "spot" transactions, follows about the same general lines as in New York and the other great coffee markets. Coffee "futures" are dealt in on the Havre Bourse.
Green coffee is sold in London by auction in Mincing Lane. On arrival, it is stored in bonded warehouses, and is released for domestic use only when customs duty at the rate of four and one-half pence per pound has been paid. The bulk of the coffee comes in parchment on consignment; and before sale, it must be hulled and sorted in the milling establishments, most of which are on the banks of the Thames.
The auctions are held four times a week, usually on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. The sales are advertised in the market papers—chief among which is the Public Ledger—and also by the auctioneers, who issue catalogs of their offerings. A few hours before the beginning of the sale, samples are laid out for inspection by prospective buyers, who may cup-test them if they desire. The actual selling is done by competitive cash bidding, the highest bidder becoming the owner. Two classes of brokers do the bidding, one for home trade and the other for exporters.
Home trade takes about a tenth of the coffee, the remainder being sold for export. If the coffee is bought for re-export, it can be transferred to the shipping port, still in bond, and shipped out of the country without paying duty. During the World War, auctions were held about twice a week; but after the signing of the armistice in November 1918, the London traders resumed the four times a week practise.