London white sugar futures closed slightly higher on Monday, boosted by a late run-up in New York raws in thin conditions, dealers said. Benchmark October finished up $3.60 at $453.90 per tonne after trading in a range of $456.10 to $448.00. Total volume was a light 3,897 lots.
Dealers said prices held around little changed levels for much of the day but local buying in New York triggered a late run-up in both markets. Gains were trimmed in the last couple of minutes of trading. "There was no real news today. Nothing on physicals. We just followed New York," one dealer said. Traders referred to a lack of physical offtake because the market was considered to be still too high.
"The market is marking time until it can find offtake or support," one said. Traders referred to light spread trades, and one said that some arbitrage activity was likely. The collapse of global free trade talks will hinder sugar reform, but the process is far from dead, the senior economist of the International Sugar Organisation (ISO) said on Monday.
Sergey Gudoshnikov said he did not expect any immediate sugar market impact from the collapse of the Doha round. India's sugar industry expects the government will ease a ban on sugar exports soon, allowing some refiners to take advantage of high world prices, industry executives said on Monday.
COFFEE FLAT: London robusta coffee futures ended flat on Monday after rising on speculative and trade buying earlier in the session but falling due to selling in New York, dealers said. The benchmark September contract settled flat at $1,162 a tonne after trading between $1,117 and $1,156. Total volume was 12,040 lots.
"There was speculative short covering and trade buying pushing the market," one dealer said, adding, "There was less upside because of New York. New York arabicas, which fell to a 21-month low on fund selling on Friday, were pulled further down on fund selling on Monday. "Friday saw a swift descent and if there is no follow-through then you see some corrective action," the dealer added.
Brazil's coffee belt will have hot and dry weather this week, favouring harvesting, private forecaster Somar said on Monday.
COCOA DOWN: London cocoa futures ended slightly down on speculative selling in range-bound trade on Monday, dealers said. The benchmark September contract settled down 3 pounds, or 0.4 percent, at 859 pounds a tonne after trading between 875 and 851 pounds. Total volume was 7,280 lots.
"There was liquidation by specs...There was also some arbitrage selling," one dealer said. The dealer said it was not clear how long the industry buying that had been supporting the market would last. "If they (industry buyers) stop buying, there could be a problem," he added.
London cocoa a fell to a six-week low on Friday. Prices retreated last week as funds sold after the expiry of the July contract, which had been pushed up by a large short position and low stock levels.
Cocoa arrivals at ports in Ivory Coast were seen at around 1.305 million tonnes between October 1 and July 23, according to a rough estimate by major exporters on Monday.
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