Arabica coffee rises on position data, cocoa climbs

Arabica coffee futures on ICE were higher on Monday boosted by data showing a further rise in an already record speculative net short position while New York cocoa prices also rose. September arabica coffee was up 1.80 cents, or 1.6 percent, to $1.1225 per lb at 1400 GMT after earlier climbing to a session high of $1.1340
Dealers said the rise in the speculative net short position heightened the possibility of a short covering rally in the near future.
Speculators upped their record bearish stance in arabica coffee short arabica coffee futures and options on ICE Futures US in the week to July 24, US government data showed on Friday. "I see this as a positioning based rally. The COT (Commitments of Traders) report was just unprecedented," one dealer said.
"It will be interesting to see if we can hold these levels. There is a lot of trade selling in the market," the dealer added.
September robusta coffee climbed $17, or 1.0 percent, to $1,670 a tonne.
Vietnam's coffee exports in July fell 16.7 percent from June to 130,000 tonnes, the General Statistics Office said on Sunday.
September New York cocoa rose $25, or 1.1 percent, to $2,258 a tonne, regaining some ground after falling sharply to a five-month low of $2,212 on Friday.
Dealers said pressure from fund long liquidations had, at least temporarily, abated.
There also remained uncertainty about the outlook for production in top grower Ivory Coast.
"As so often, the situation on the cocoa market remains unclear. Some observers expect that the mid-crop in Ivory Coast, the largest supplier, will decline by 25 percent as compared with last year's mid-crop, though the latter was very high," Commerzbank said in a market note.
"As yet, however, the - albeit unofficial - cumulative shipment data since the start of the season are still roughly on a par with those of last year. A clearer picture may emerge over the next few weeks."
December London cocoa was up 7 pounds, or 0.4 percent, at 1,684 pounds a tonne.
October raw sugar was unchanged at 10.88 cents per lb, hovering just above a three-month low of 10.83 cents set on Thursday. October white sugar fell $3.10, or 1.0 percent, to $320.80 a tonne with the whites premium falling back slightly after its recent strong advance.