London white sugar futures closed firmer on end-destination buying after a choppy session on Tuesday, reversing earlier losses driven by speculative and arbitrage sales, traders said. December settled up $3.30 or 0.83 percent at $400.00 per tonne in volume of 1,462 lots, after trading from $400.60 to $393.00.
March finished up $2.90 at $364.00 per tonne in volume of 1,533 lots, having moved from $364.20 to $357.00. "There is good offtake by end-destination buyers, and good speculative selling, with arbitrage between the London and New York March contract at a (whites-over-raws) premium of $105," one trader said.
The third test on sugar beet arriving at German sugar production factories in the 2006/07 season showed sugar content of 17.31 percent against 17.28 percent in the same test last season, the association of German sugar producers WVZ said on Tuesday.
COFFEE FIRMER: London robusta coffee futures finished firmer after a bout of late speculative buying on Tuesday, reversing earlier losses driven by speculative and hedge selling, dealers said. The key January contract ended $15 higher at $1,520 after trading in a range of $1,524 to $1,490.
Total volume was 27,466 lots. "If we fall below $1,475 (on January) then we may see a major sell-off," one dealer said, adding he believed the market was currently overpriced with harvesting in top robusta producer Vietnam picking up and a large crop expected.
Volume was boosted by rolling forward of positions out of November ahead of Wednesday's first tender day. The front month was trading at a discount to January of about $15, up from $10 late last week and a premium of $145 in late August.
COCOA WEAKER: London cocoa futures closed lower on origin and speculative selling against trade buying on Tuesday, and traders said they expected cocoa to remain rangebound in the near term. December settled down two pounds at 828 pounds in volume of 2,561 lots, after trading from 836 to 825 pounds.
March finished down one pound to 846 pounds in volume of 1,982 lots, having moved from 853 to 843 pounds. There was no immediate market reaction to news that Ivory Coast's main cocoa and coffee farmers' association on Tuesday definitively called off a threat to resume strike action.
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