US arabica coffee futures climbed to an 11-day high on late-day fund buying on Tuesday, triggering light buy-stops, traders said. "There was some fund buying that got us some newer highs with some light stops touched off above 1.2175 (cents) that propelled us up to 1.2220 (cents)," one trader said.
The NYBOT March coffee contract rose 1.35 cents to $1.2165 per lb, after trading in a range from $1.2010 to $1.2220, a high last seen January 5. May gained 1.40 cents to $1.2485, in a trading band from $1.2315 to $1.2525. The rest closed 1.25 to 1.40 higher.
Light profit taking at the session's highs limited stronger gains, traders said. The estimated final coffee volume hit 16,167 lots, NYBOT figures showed, compared to the 13,686 lots officially tallied on Friday. NYBOT was closed on Monday for the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday.
In top coffee grower Brazil, a forecast global coffee deficit in 2007/08 should encourage firmer prices despite a weak and wet start to the year, traders said Tuesday. The International Coffee Organisation said on Monday it expected a global shortfall of 8 million to 9 million 60-kg bags due to lower output and steady demand. In London, robusta coffee futures closed higher on light industry buying, dealers said.
Liffe's benchmark March gained $14 at $1,560 per tonne, in dealings from $1,544 to $1,565, while May rose $15 to $1,552, in a trading band from $1,537 to $1,553. The rest closed $11 to $14 higher, with the exception of July which settled up $16. Coffee prices in Vietnam held steady in the past week after ample fresh supply from the new harvest, traders said on Tuesday.
In East Africa, prices of top quality Kenyan coffee improved greatly at Tuesday's auction as fresh beans started to trickle into the market, market participants said. Tanzania's coffee prices generally eased at last week's auction owing to falling bean quality and the large volumes on offer, traders said on Tuesday.
In West Africa, Ivory Coast's 2007 coffee harvest will total around 110,000 tonnes, roughly unchanged from last year's crop but down from the average of the previous five years, the Coffee and Cocoa Bourse (BCC) estimated on Tuesday.
On the weather front, DTN Meteorlogix said Brazil will continue to see scattered showers and thunderstorms through Thursday with 0.75 to 2.5 inches of rain expected. Mostly dry conditions were forecast for Friday and Saturday with scattered rain to return on Sunday and Monday.
Comments
Comments are closed.