London white sugar futures closed lower on Wednesday on producer selling against Thursday's EU sugar export tender, traders said. Front-month December settled down $1.70 at $296.50 per tonne in volume of 2,274 lots, after trading from $299.70 to $296.00.
March ended down $1.90 at $305.10 per tonne in volume of 2,910 lots, having moved from $308.00 to $304.50. "There is some hedge selling against tomorrow's tender - the last weekly tender for some time," one trader said, adding that the EU could award a large tonnage on Thursday.
Egypt will tender to buy 80,000 tonnes of raw sugar in two equal tranches of 40,000 tonnes for January/February shipment, traders said on Wednesday.
One trader said bids should be submitted to Egypt's state Sugar and Integrated Industries Company (SIIC) by November 1.
There was no immediate official confirmation.
COFFEE SLIPS: London coffee prices slackened on Wednesday after origin pressure and weakness on the New York market wiped out earlier gains, dealers said.
Liffe's second-month January finished $17 lower at $978 a tonne following a range of $1,007-960 on turnover of 6,983 lots.
Spot November turned over 5,495 lots out of a total of 12,907. It was $17 lower at $957 after a $985-940 price band.
Spreads and trade Against Actuals made up a lot of the volume.
"There was some producer selling this morning which stopped it moving higher," a dealer said. "But New York hasn't had the guts to go anywhere.....and when it turned there was a bit of a sell-off."
Vietnam said on Wednesday it exported 834,000 tonnes of beans, or 13.9 million 60-kg bags, in the crop year ending last month, a fall of 12.9 percent on the previous year.
COCOA FIRMS: London cocoa prices firmed on Wednesday amid underlying concern about political volatility in Ivory Coast, dealers said.
The market was worried about possible unrest in the run-up to Sunday, when Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo's constitutional term ends and new elections were originally meant to have been held.
Liffe's most active December contract concluded nine pounds up at 843 pounds a tonne after volume of 3,382 lots between 844 and 827.
"It's a cautious day, nobody wants to be caught short of December," a dealer said. Technically the market could jump to over 880 if December could break through resistance at 865, he added. Total volume was 8,844 lots, swollen by structural trade.
Ivory Coast will on Wednesday start registering for export around 120,000 tonnes of cocoa that had accumulated at ports because of a delay by the government in setting taxes, exporters said.