Arabica coffee futures edge up, sugar prices slip

LONDON: Arabica coffee futures on ICE edged higher on Wednesday with the outlook on price charts appearing more bullish after the prior session's strong performance.

Coffee

March arabica coffee rose 0.04% to $2.3185 per lb by 1243 GMT.

Dealers said the market had upward momentum after rising nearly 4% on Tuesday and had the potential to climb back towards last month's 10-year highs during the next few weeks.

The outlook for this year's crop in top producer Brazil remained a central focus with drought and frosts in 2021 denting prospects but recent rains helping to improve soil moisture in many areas.

Costa Rican growers exported 12.5% more coffee in December than in the same month of 2020, the Coffee Institute of the Central American country said on Tuesday.

March robusta coffee fell 0.85% to $2,329 a tonne, extending its retreat from a 10-year high of $2,384 set in late December.

Dealers said the market remained underpinned, however, by supply chain issues which have disrupted shipments from top robusta producer Vietnam.

Arabica coffee recovers from 1-1/2-month low; raw sugar also up

Sugar

March raw sugar was 0.5% lower at 18.66 cents per lb.

Dealers said rains in the key Centre-South region of Brazil had improved the outlook for this year's crop.

They also noted demand remained sluggish.

March white sugar fell 0.3% to $493.60 a tonne.

Cocoa

March New York cocoa was up 0.4% at $2,471 a tonne, regaining some ground after three consecutive daily declines.

Dealers said there had been light rains in Ivory Coast recently which could boost the outlook for the mid-crop. The world's top cocoa producer is currently around the middle of its dry season which runs from mid-November to March.

March London cocoa rose 0.1% to 1,669 pounds a tonne.