Cocoa futures on ICE fell on Monday, partially giving up the prior session's steep gains on selling spurred by much-needed rain in top grower Ivory Coast and a pause in the markets' upward momentum. Arabica coffee fell to a five-week low.
September New York cocoa settled down $43, or 1.7 percent, at $2,476 per tonne, after falling 3.5 percent to $2,432. Despite trading in a wide $90 range, prices remained within Friday's range when prices rallied 3.5 percent and total open interest rose for the first time in 12 sessions, ICE data showed.
Rain in Ivory Coast attracted some selling, as well as spillover pressure from larger commodity markets, traders said, with the Thomson Reuters CoreCommodity Index at a two-month low. Most of Ivory Coast's main cocoa growing regions received plenty of rain last week, farmers said on Monday, raising hopes for the April-to-September mid-crop after a prolonged period of below-average rainfall.
A lack of follow-through buying from Friday's rally and higher weekly bean arrivals in Ivory Coast also spurred some selling, traders said. September London cocoa settled down 28 pounds, or 1.6 percent, at 1,768 pounds per tonne.
September arabica coffee settled down 0.85 cent, or 0.7 percent, at $1.167 per lb, a five-week low, as top grower Brazil began to harvest what is expected to be a record crop. September robusta coffee settled down $3, or 0.2 percent, at $1,687 per tonne.
October raw sugar settled down 0.07 cent, or 0.6 percent, at 12.28 cents per lb, well below an earlier session high of 12.5 cents. The market largely shrugged off a forecast by Brazil's Copersucar, the world's largest sugar and ethanol seller, which expects smaller sugar production in the Brazilian center-south region in the current season and sees a more positive outlook for sugar prices going forward.
A slightly weaker Brazil real pressured sugar prices below early gains, traders said, as it makes dollar-denominated prices more attractive in local currency terms and potentially leading to a pick-up in producer selling. The prospect of a large global surplus in the 2017-18, despite lower production in Brazil, also helped to keep prices in check with any significant rally likely to trigger exports from India and a switch in Brazil to using more cane for sugar rather than ethanol. August white sugar settled down 10 cents, or 0.03 percent, at $342 per tonne.
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