London white sugar futures slid to 21-month lows on fund and speculative selling on Wednesday, weighed by global oversupply, while cocoa clawed higher on arbitrage and coffee rose in light speculative trade. Benchmark October slid to $280.10, its lowest level since November 2005, before clawing back to close at $283.60, down $4.60, in heavy volume of 6,445 lots.
Romain Lathiere, fund manager at Swiss-based Diapason Commodities, told Reuters that active funds could have been selling white sugar futures on Wednesday morning. The market looked bearish after front-month futures broke through their April 25 low of $298.00 on Monday. "Since we broke through $298.00, we have seen a big selloff in white sugar," Lathiere said.
Some physical white sugar buyers are waiting for prices to stabilise before re-entering the market to seal new deals as the world seems awash in sugar, notably from India, dealers said on Wednesday.
COCOA HIGHER; In cocoa, London futures bounced higher in strong volumes on hefty arbitrage and rolling of positions, in a technical correction from recent weakness driven by expectations of good West African 2007/08 main crop production.
December finished up 15 pounds to 999 pounds in above-average volume of 9,447 lots.
Traders saw support in December at 985 pounds and resistance at 1,020 and then 1,070.
Cocoa arrivals at ports in Ivory Coast reached around 1,169,500 tonnes between October 1, 2006 and August 5, 2007, exporters estimated on Wednesday, compared with 1,316,234 tonnes received in the same period last year.
COFFEE SOARS: London robusta futures consolidated firmer on light speculative dealings, limited by origin selling, dealers said. September settled up $11 to $1,829 in low volume of 3,813 lots. Origin selling pushed the market lower in early trade and dealers eyed support in September at $1,801 ahead of $1,790 and $1,772, with resistance at $1,849.
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