London white sugar futures extended recent gains to hit a nine-month high before reversing direction at Monday's close, dealers said. Robusta coffee advanced slightly within its recent range, while cocoa slipped on hedging-related sales.
March whites ended the final Liffe session before the Christmas holidays at $315.10 per tonne, down $2.40 from Friday's close, after earlier trading up to $320.50, their highest since March 29.
"New York closed reasonably firm, so we've seen some follow-through buying in London this morning," one trader said. "It's just a continuation of what we've seen recently in whites. We're playing a bit of catch-up with New York this morning, but generally the market is holding up quite well."
Activity was muted, with total volume across contracts at 1,817 lots. Sugar prices are lower than at the start of 2007, largely on oversupply this year and expectations of more to come next year, though some analysts believe a recovery is on the cards, aided by an increase in the amount of Brazilian cane allocated to making ethanol.
Coffee ticked up, but remained comfortably within its recent range. March closed at per $1,907 tonne, up from $1,893 at the close on Friday. "There's some light spec buying matched by origin selling," one dealer said.
"Volumes are predictably light for this time of year. On the last trading day of the year there will probably be some more fund business, but for now it's quiet." Cocoa for delivery in March slipped to 1,051 pounds per tonne from 1,070 pounds at the close on Friday.
It touched 1,092 pounds on Wednesday, its highest since July 26. "We are seeing some hedge related selling around, and that is going to run into some scale-up industry buying," a trader said.
"But you can expect the market to drift a little lower at this time of the year. There is some hedging around to be done and the funds aren't in to keep the market steady," he added. Arrivals at Ivory Coast ports were seen at 720,000 tonnes between October 1 and December 23, up from 557,618 tonnes a year ago, exporters said.
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