New York cocoa falls to five-year low, robusta coffee up

New York cocoa futures on ICE fell below $2,000 per tonne for the first time in more than five years on Thursday, as traders focused on plentiful supplies, while robusta coffee futures rebounded up from a six-week low after finding support.
COCOA New York May cocoa settled down $15, or 0.8 percent, at $1,996 per tonne, after falling to $1,988, the weakest for the second position since December 2011.
Dealers said ample supplies continued to weigh on prices, with a large global surplus widely forecast for the 2016/17 season. May London cocoa settled down 1 pound, or 0.06 percent, at 1,632 pounds per tonne, remaining in technically oversold territory on the 14-day relative strength index.
March robusta coffee futures settled up $20, or 1 percent, at $2,126 per tonne. The front month earlier fell to $2,092, its lowest since December 29.
"We've had a few down days and a little bit of early follow-through (selling) and the market has run out of sellers for the time being. So it has rebounded a little," one dealer said.
The market's recent weakness has been driven partly by signs that Brazil may decide not to import robusta despite an internal shortage of the variety.
May arabica coffee settled up 2.3 cents, or 1.6 percent, at $1.476 per lb.
White sugar futures were mixed, with front month March weakening as funds rolled forward long positions into the May contract.
Dealers said a small delivery was expected against March, which expires on Monday, as demand from Myanmar had tightened supplies in Asia. The sugar purchased by Myanmar was expected ultimately to be destined for China.
Prices for March may also have been weighed down by talk that sugar from Central America could be delivered. The sugar is seen as less attractive than Brazilian supplies due to potentially higher freight costs to ship to key import markets.
May white sugar settled down $2.80, or 0.5 percent, at $548.10 per tonne.
The March contract's discount to May slumped to $11.40, a contract low.
Raw sugar futures turned lower as the market lacked a clear overall trend as it waited to see whether or when India might import supplies following a poor crop this year.
March raw sugar settled down 0.11 cent, or 0.5 percent, at 20.65 cents per lb.