London white sugar futures closed firmer on trade buying against trade and speculative selling on Friday, and traders said they expected physical offtake to pick up after the recent sell-off. Benchmark October futures settled up $3.70 at $450.50 per tonne in volume of 2,858 lots, after trading from $450.50 to $446.
December finished up $3.80 at $447 per tonne in volume of 812 lots, having moved from $447 to $443.30. "The market is languishing near the lows of the last week. There is no sign of fund selling of any size," one trader said. "We are at the bottom of a range. I can't help thinking that people should start buying." Traders noted talk that the Indian white sugar export ban may not be lifted soon.
"Feeling in the market suggests that no Indian exports are likely until December at the earliest," one European broker said in a daily report. Russia refined 1.97 million tonnes of white sugar from imported raws from the start of the year to July 19, down 15.6 percent year-on-year, the Russian Sugar Producers' Union said on Friday.
COCOA FALLS: London cocoa futures fell to a six-week low on speculative selling on Friday, dealers said. The benchmark September contract settled down 12 pounds, or 1.4 percent, at 862 pounds a tonne after trading between 878 and 858 pounds. Total volume was 11,026 lots.
"It was spec selling," one dealer said, adding there had been industry buying in the market but it had not been enough to significantly shore up prices.
The market last traded as low as 858 pounds on a front-month continuation basis on June 7, before rising rapidly towards the end of the July contract on Friday.
A large fund short position, low stock levels of tenderable cocoa in Liffe certified warehouses had helped to push the market up. Dealers have said investors are staying away from the market as they are unsure whether heavy fund selling, which pulled the market down 15 percent on Monday and Tuesday, had dried up.
Cocoa trading has remained range-bound with switches dominating trading in the last days of the week. Cocoa arrivals at ports in Ivory Coast reached 1,298,946 tonnes between October 1 and July 16, 2006, according to an estimate by major exporters on Friday.
COFFEE DOWN: London robusta coffee futures closed more than 5 percent down at a new 3-week low on fund selling on Friday, dealers said. "It was about fund selling today," one dealer said. Another added there had also been some speculative selling.
The benchmark September contract settled down $64, or 5.2 percent, at the day's low of $1,162 a tonne after trading between $1,230 and $1,162. Total volume was 25,965 lots. The market, which last traded at similar levels on June 27, has fallen about 13 percent since the second-position set a 6-1/2 year high of $1,340 on July 7.
Since then, the market has fluctuated on mainly speculative buying. Another dealer said the market had fallen on fund selling on Friday after breaking through the technical support level of $1,214.
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