London robusta coffee traded steady on Friday as the market paused for breath following the previous session's four percent slump, traders said. Liffe's benchmark November position made a session high of $1,019 per tonne but ended at $1,005, up $4 or 0.4 percent. The day's low matched Thursday's base of $990, the contract's cheapest level since mid-April.
Volume hit 6,197 lots from a total of 13,829. "People are still licking their wounds from yesterday," a dealer said. "We haven't been able to maintain the groundwork made this morning."
Producer and fund selling knocked robusta lower on Thursday and traders reported little sign of coffee roasters stepping in to support the market.
"My feelings on the physical side (of the market) haven't changed over the past few weeks," the first trader said. "Funds simply decided to partially come out of the market at a difficult time. It was hardly the best time for offtake."
Many European coffee roasters are shut for maintenance work or running at reduced capacity because of the holiday period.
Prices are still up by almost a third since the start of the year but large investors are believed by traders to have reduced their net long position to anything between 5,000 and 15,000 lots.
COCOA ALMOST IMMOBILE:
London cocoa futures held steady on Friday as trade buying on the dips helped the market to consolidate Thursday's gains, dealers said.
Liffe's bellwether December contract finished just one pound higher at 823 pounds a tonne, having traded in an 816-827 pound range in volume of 1,672 lots.
Total turnover was 4,979 lots, mainly on crosses on front-month September.
Traders said the market was oversold and due for a correction, having skirted 13-month continuation lows since the beginning of the week. Sentiment remains bearish however because of expectations of a rebound in West African production for the 2005/06 season.
Cocoa exporters and buyers in Ivory Coast said on Friday they were disappointed by the 2004/05 season now drawing to an end as output was lower than hoped and bean quality had been patchy during the campaign.
SUGAR BARELY MOVES:
London white sugar futures finished almost unchanged on Friday after trade buying offset earlier arbitrage and fund selling, dealers said.
Liffe's front month October gained 10 cents to $285.8 per tonne in volume of 1,644 lots, after trading from $283.1 to $288.
Total volume was 3,258 lots and contained some spread activity on October-December.