New York raw sugar futures on ICE jumped more than 3 percent on Wednesday, breaking a two-day streak lower on support from rains in top grower Brazil, while data from the country's main cane region was largely within expectations. Cocoa futures rose to seven-week highs, boosted by chart-based buy signals and worries that dry weather could curtail production in top grower Ivory Coast in 2015-16.
Arabica coffee steadied, feeling some pressure from a stronger dollar. October raw sugar settled up 0.36 cent, or 3.3 percent, at 11.43 cents per pound, again extending gains in the last 10 minutes of trading, when nearly 20 percent of the contract's volume was traded. "It is about rainfall disrupting the pace of the harvest and also losing some of the sugar content in the cane," said Rabobank commodities analyst Tracey Allen, referring to center-south Brazil.
Heavy, widespread rains in southeastern Brazil are reaching the region's coffee and sugar cane plantations. Data from industry association Unica showed cane mills in Brazil's center-south region produced 2.84 million tonnes of sugar in the second half of August, at the low end of market expectations, while mills' allocation of cane to ethanol was above market expectations at 56.8 percent.
Meanwhile, European Union 2015 sugar production is expected to be lower than last year. October white sugar settled up $1.40, or 0.4 percent, at $346 per tonne. In cocoa, strong chart-based buy signals and concern about dry crop conditions in top grower Ivory Coast outweighed strong bean arrivals there.
December New York cocoa settled up $50, or 1.6 percent, at $3,270 per tonne, after peaking at $3,278. London December cocoa closed up 33 pounds, or 1.5 percent, at 2,204 pounds a tonne. Arabica coffee futures maintained their bearish trend as some viewed rains in Brazil as beneficial for next year's crop while the US dollar's reversal higher added pressure, traders said.
December arabica coffee settled up 0.1 cent, or 0.1 percent, at $1.211 per pound, after falling to $1.192, within sight of last week's 1-1/2-year low of $1.1775. November robusta coffee futures settled up $12, or 0.8 percent, at $1,604 per tonne. "The fundamentals in robusta are generally bearish. The main reason is the accumulation in stocks in Vietnam," said Ricardo Santos, a trader with Equatorial Traders.
Comments
Comments are closed.