NEW YORK/LONDON: ICE arabica coffee futures touched an almost three-year low on Monday during a broader selloff in commodities amid mounting concern about the pace of the global economic recovery and weaker-than expected economic data from China.
Raw sugar and cocoa futures on ICE also fell.
The Thomson Reuters-Jefferies CRB Index sank, with gold posting its largest two-day loss in 30 years, as news of weaker-than-forecast economic data in China exacerbated earlier losses prompted by the central bank of Cyprus planning to sell gold.
Soft commodities felt pressure as funds accelerated their exits from the market, and investors also cut exposure to oil, copper and grain.
ICE July arabica coffee futures fell 1.05 cents, or 0.8 percent, to finish at $1.3610 per lb, after earlier sliding to $1.3355 a lb, the lowest price for the second-month contract since May 2010.
"Coffee over the last several months has been traded more by specs than commercial interests, and now we have a meltdown in the outside markets," said James Cordier, principal and founder of Optionsellers.com.
Non-commercial dealers have been trimming their net short position in arabica contracts back from a record high, according to US government data, though the position remains at high levels.
Investor selling and expectations of ample Brazilian supplies have pushed ICE arabica futures to recent lows.
Trading volumes were heavy, at about 59,000 contracts compared with a 30-day average of fewer than 23,000 contracts, preliminary Thomson Reuters data showed.
July robusta coffee on Liffe closed down $11, or 0.5 percent, at $2,058 a tonne.
ICE SUGAR, COCOA PRESSURED
Raw sugar futures on ICE also were hit by the overall selling, posting their steepest one-day loss since mid-March.
May raw sugar futures dropped 0.24 cent, or 1.3 percent, to settle at 17.79 cents a lb. The front-month contract has been inching up from a more than 2-1/2-year low of 17.47 cents touched on April 3 on expectations of steep global output.
The July contract on ICE closed down 0.29 cent, or 1.6 percent, at 17.55 cents a lb.
The day's losses were seen limited by concerns over near-term supplies from Brazil, the world's top producer.
Delays to the early phase of centre-south Brazil's harvest due to rain pushed the front-month contract to a premium of 0.24 cent over July <SB-1=R> on Monday, the highest level since February.
Trading volumes were heavy, at about 175,000 contracts compared with a 30-day average of fewer than 89,000 lots, according to preliminary Thomson Reuters data.
"Concern continues to exist that Brazil's crop is off to a slow start and there will not be much Brazilian new crop sugar available for the beginning of the delivery period," said Michael McDougall of brokerage Newedge in New York.
The expiry of the ICE May raw sugar futures contract will be on April 30.
Speculators increased their bearish stance in raw sugar contracts on ICE Futures US, boosting it to a record in the week ended April 9, US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) data showed on Friday.
Their large bearish stance has left the ICE sugar market prone to short-covering rallies, dealers said.
May white sugar on Liffe was down $2.50, or 0.5 percent, at $519.7 a tonne.
Sugar traders anticipated Guatemalan and Mexican sugar among the delivery tonnage at Monday's expiry of the Liffe May white sugar futures contract. Liffe is expected to announce delivery tonnage details on Tuesday.
July cocoa on ICE edged down $1, or 0.04 percent, to finish at $2,267 a tonne. The contract's technical outlook became more bullish after prices surpassed resistance at $2,200 per tonne last week, dealers said.
"We feel that minus 5 to minus 7 percent (year-on-year) is a decent forecast," said Eric Sivry, head of agri options brokerage at Marex Spectron.
Liffe July cocoa futures inched up 1 pound, or 0.07 percent, to finish at 1,505 pounds a tonne. The contract reached 1,512 pounds per tonne on Friday, its highest level since December 2012.
<Center><b><i>Copyright Reuters, 2013</b></i><br></center>
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