1.   Although U.S. roasters currently are well-supplied, there is a shortage of the higher-quality mild arabica coffee grown in Colombia and favored by many U.S. consumers.

2.   Beans are needed by roasters because supplies of the milder arabica coffee favored by many U.S. consumers and grown in Latin America will be running short by then.

3.   A strike would come as U.S. roasters preparing for the peak-demand winter season are running short of the higher-grade mild arabica coffee grown elsewhere in Latin America.

4.   Adverse weather in Latin America this year reduced harvests of the mild arabica coffee favored by U.S. consumers, shrinking stockpiles.

5.   Adverse weather in Latin America this year reduced harvests of the mild arabica coffee favored by U.S. consumers.

6.   Coffee producers may decide against imposing specific export quotas for the rest of this calendar year amid low global supplies, particularly of higher-grade arabica coffee.

7.   Colombia produces the higher grade arabica coffee preferred by many U.S. consumers.

8.   Colombia grows arabica coffee, a mild grade popular in the U.S. and specified for delivery by U.S. futures contracts.

9.   Imported coffee from Latin America is helping relieve a shortage of the milder arabica coffee preferred by many U.S. consumers.

10.   In addition, commercial roasters have slowed their purchases of washed arabica coffee, traders said.