Arabica coffee dips to 2-1/2 months low, sugar falls

Arabica coffee futures on ICE fell to a 2-1/2 month low on Monday, weighed down by a supply surplus after a record crop in top grower Brazil this year, while sugar and cocoa also eased. March arabica coffee fell 1.65 cents, or 1.6 percent, to $1.0060 per lb by 1518 GMT after setting a 2-1/2 month low of $1.0005.
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) said on Friday it estimated global 2018/19 coffee output at a record 174.5 million 60-kg bags, up from a previous forecast of 171.2 million bags, while consumption was set to hit a record 163.6 million bags.
USDA put Brazil's crop at a record 63.4 million bags.
"Coupled with the record Vietnamese crop of 30.4 million bags, this now means that the surplus estimated by the USDA is one of the highest current predictions on the market," Commerzbank said in a market note.
Speculators increased their bearish stance in arabica coffee for the third straight week on ICE Futures US in the week to Dec. 11, US Commodity Futures Trading Commission data showed on Friday.
March robusta coffee rose $6, or 0.4 percent, to$1,476 a tonne. The second position fell to a low of $1,468 on Friday, its weakest in more than three months.
March raw sugar was down 0.12 cent, or 0.95 percent, at 12.54 cents per lb.
Dealers said weakness in equities linked to concerns about global growth weighed on prices in absence of any major fresh fundamental news on sugar.
"In the immediate short-term we see sugar remaining in a range that seems to be ever tightening," Marex Spectron said in a technical report, citing a range of 12.11 to 13.54 cents.
"It is hard to find any fresh fundamental news to generate momentum either way," Sucden Financial senior trader Nick Penney said in a market note.
March white sugar fell $1.80, or 0.5 percent, to $341.20 a tonne. March London cocoa fell 6 pounds, or 0.4 percent to 1,659 pounds a tonne. Dry winds and below-average rainfall in most of Ivory Coast's cocoa growing regions last week could jeopardize the development of the last stage of the October-to-March main crop, farmers said on Monday. March New York cocoa was down $19, or 0.9 percent, at $2,218 a tonne.