Arabica coffee hits two-week low as Brazilian real slumps
- March London cocoa fell 0.1% to 1,775 pounds a tonne
- March raw sugar slipped 0.1% to 19.07 cents per lb
LONDON: Arabica coffee futures on ICE hit two-week lows on Monday against the backdrop of a slump in the Brazilian real and bearish sentiment in wider financial markets.
Cocoa and sugar were little changed.
Coffee
December arabica coffee fell 0.8% to $1.9825 per lb by 1133 GMT.
Arabica speculators reduced their net long position by 2,277 lots to 45,340 in the week to Oct. 19, data showed.
Dealers cited much-needed weekend rains in top producer Brazil, widespread coffee tree flowering and a steep slump in the Brazilian real versus the dollar.
A weak real tempts Brazilian producers and exporters to sell dollar-priced coffee by raising returns in local currency terms.
January robusta coffee fell 0.1% to $2,139 a tonne.
Arabica coffee edges higher, sugar and cocoa fall
Sugar
March raw sugar slipped 0.1% to 19.07 cents per lb, edging away from last week's three-week low of 18.82 cents.
Raw sugar speculators cut their net long position by 33,515 contracts to 126,148 in the week to Oct. 19, data showed.
Dealers said the market looks set to try to consolidate at current lofty levels, with rains in Brazil weighing somewhat and the risk of more fund long liquidation looming.
Egypt has strategic sugar reserves sufficient until January-February, a senior supply ministry official said.
December white sugar fell 0.5% to $498.20 a tonne.
Cocoa
March London cocoa fell 0.1% to 1,775 pounds a tonne.
Cocoa arrivals at ports in top grower Ivory Coast since the start of the season on Oct. 1 reached 277,000 tonnes by Oct. 24, exporters estimated, down 15.3% from the same period last season.
Ivorian output has long been expected to fall this season, though recent dry and sunny weather has improved the production outlook.
Meanwhile, recent data on third-quarter demand growth has been largely disappointing, traders and analysts said.
December New York cocoa gained 0.1% to $2,584 a tonne.
New York cocoa speculators switched to a net short position of 10,672 contracts in the week to Oct 19, cutting 16,667 contracts.
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