Cocoa and coffee futures pared gains on Monday, as the dollar firmed against a basket of currencies, while sugar corrected from last week's highs as firm prices deterred physical business. Cocoa's gains scaled back as the greenback edged up, said Ricardo Santos of the agri-commodity brokerage at BNP Paribas Fortis.
"The dollar is pretty much the outstanding factor," Santos said. He added that the market had bounced back early in the session after a downward correction last week. "We're seeing a rebound after what we saw last week when we saw a big downturn in prices," Santos said. He also said that he believed that industry had not fully covered its requirements.
Market fundamentals in cocoa were constructive due to a tight supply outlook and improving demand, dealers said. ICE March cocoa rose $19 or 0.6 percent to $3,270 per tonne at 1609 GMT, while London May cocoa was up 8 pounds or 0.4 percent to 2,245 pounds per tonne in modest volume of 653 lots. Arabica coffee futures pared early gains, as the dollar strengthened. Dealers noted the strength of the US currency late last week had helped to temporarily stall the market's upward trend.
"I'm positive towards the market but clearly the strength of the dollar (late last week) dented it," one dealer said. May arabica futures on ICE rose 1.0 cent or 0.7 percent to $1.4795 per lb. The market rose to a peak of $1.4950 last Wednesday, a 16-month high for the benchmark second month, before slipping back as the dollar strengthened.
Dealers said the market has been supported by tightness in the availability of good quality arabicas, with premiums in the physical market for key origins such as Colombia on the rise. Arabica coffee futures on ICE have risen about 30 percent so far this year but have not yet seen the kind of explosive rally that has more than doubled ICE raw sugar futures.
Robusta coffee futures on Liffe have failed to participate in the run-up in coffee prices, standing about 12 percent below end-2008 levels, with less supportive fundamentals reducing fund appetite for the market. March robustas on Liffe edged down $8 or 0.6 percent to $1,356 per tonne. Sugar futures edged down in modest volumes and dealers saw a risk of a further price correction lower after a recent run-up on the back of bullish market fundamentals and investment fund short-covering.
Raw sugar futures more than doubled this year, after top consumer India shifted from net exporter to importer, and Brazilian production suffered due to intense and persistent rainfall. ICE March raw sugar futures were down 0.24 cent or 0.9 percent to 26.10 cents a lb, while London March white sugar futures extended losses and were down $5.00 or 0.7 percent to $673.30 per tonne in modest volume of 1,919 lots.
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