NEW YORK: Arabica coffee futures on ICE fell on Friday after hitting a fresh seven-month high as dealers weighed forecasts of cold, potentially frost-inducing weather in top-grower Brazil against predictions that the frost may not cause much crop damage.
COFFEE
September arabica coffee settled down 2.55 cent, or 2.2pc, at $1.111 per lb, after peaking at $1.1565, its highest since Nov. 20, 2018.
Still, on the week, the contract gained 1.5pc, its third consecutive positive weekly finish.
The market has been buoyed over the past week by expectations that cold temperatures in major coffee growing areas of Brazil could prompt a crop-damaging frost.
The Parana Meteorological System (Simepar) has issued a frost alert for this weekend for the state of Parana, which produces about one million bags of coffee.
Still, some dealers thought that the concerns about the cold may have been overblown.
"I don't think it is as big (a threat) as some others are saying," one dealer said, adding a relatively small proportion of Brazil's crop was threatened.
A weaker Brazilian real was also a bearish factor, as it can encourage producer selling of dollar-denominated commodities like coffee.
September robusta coffee settled down $30, or 2pc, at $1,444 per tonne, after touching a one-month peak of $1,493. The contract slipped nearly 0.5pc on the week.
COCOA
September New York cocoa settled up $30, or 1.2pc, at $2,463 per tonne.
The contract rose 1.6pc on the week.
Prices got some support from concerns about dry weather in top-grower Ivory Coast, dealers said.
Uncertainty about the details of how a recently announced floor price for cocoa from Ivory Coast and Ghana would work continues to hang over the market, dealers said.
The two countries failed on Wednesday to come to an agreement with the chocolate industry on how to introduce the floor price.
September London cocoa settled down 9 pounds, or 0.5pc, at 1,839 pounds per tonne after rising sharply on Thursday when New York-based markets were shut for the US Independence Day holiday.
SUGAR
October raw sugar settled down 0.18 cent, or 1.4pc, at 12.36 cents per lb.
The contract rose 0.3pc on the week, its fourth positive weekly finish in five weeks.
August white sugar settled down 50 cents, or 0.2pc, at $319.80 per tonne.
The premium of white sugar over raw sugar fell to its lowest in nearly three months. India's unloading of low-quality white sugar to reduce stock overhang has pressured the premium, one US dealer said.
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