Sugar, coffee, cocoa fall on heightened geopolitical risk

LONDON: Sugar, coffee and cocoa futures fell on Monday as the dollar soared and global equities skidded on concerns about tensions along Ukraine’s border with Russia, prompting a flight to safety amongst speculators.

SUGAR

March raw sugar was down 0.7% to 18.77 cents per lb at 1234 GMT, having hit a three-week high of 19.29 cents on Thursday.

“It’s a flight to safety, to the dollar, (which is) not good for commodities,” said a dealer.

A strong dollar makes dollar-priced commodities like sugar costlier for non-US investors.

Looking further ahead, though, sugar is underpinned by tight supply as top producer Brazil has been plagued by adverse weather.

Oil prices are rallying, also on the geopolitical tensions, which could lift sugar by prompting Brazil’s cane mills to divert production to ethanol and away from sugar.

Speculators increased their net long position in raw sugar futures by 8,599 contracts to 46,667 in the week to Jan. 18, data showed.

March white sugar fell 0.8% to $501.40 a tonne.

COFFEE

March arabica coffee was down 1.4% to $2.3470 per lb, having hit a two week low of $2.3305.

Speculators increased their net long position in arabica coffee futures by 4,827 contracts to 47,856 in the week to Jan. 18. March robusta coffee fell 0.8% to $2,195 a tonne, nearing a two month low of $2,184 hit last week.

COCOA

??March New York cocoa was down 1.1% to $2,548 a tonne, having hit a near two week low of $2,531.

March London cocoa was down 1.4% to 1,713 pounds per tonne?, having hit a near two week low of 1,699.

Speculators switched to a net long position in New York cocoa of 4,729 contracts in the week to Jan. 18, adding 15,051 contracts, data showed.

North American cocoa grindings, a measure of demand, unexpectedly fell 1.2% year-on-year in the fourth quarter of 2021, though there continues to be demand growth overall, with European and Asian fourth-quarter grinds both rising.

Cocoa arrivals at ports in top grower Ivory Coast fell 0.9% from Oct. 1 to Jan. 23 versus the same period a year ago, exporters estimated.