US coffee futures edged up on Thursday, thanks to scale-down roaster buying and a lack of producer selling, market sources said.
The New York Board of Trade's (NYBOT) active March arabica contract settled up 0.50 cent at 96.20 cents a lb., after trading from 94.50 cents to 97.20 cents. May arabica gained 0.65 cent to finish at 98.45 cents a lb., while back month Arabic's advanced 0.75 to 0.80 cents. "There was some scale-down roaster buying, and we've seen industry participation, which held additional sellers at bay," said a trader who pointed out that some participants were forced to buy back their short positions amid a lack of origin selling.
An increase in industry and trade buying on Thursday boosted NYBOT coffee futures trading volume to an estimated 13,191 contracts from 7,799 lots officially tallied the previous session. Crop agency Confab in top coffee producer Brazil is expected to release its preliminary estimate for the 2006/07 season on Friday, sometime after the New York coffee market closes. A Reuters survey this week of nine US and European trade sources put Brazil's coffee crop at an average of 44.4 million bags, up 33 percent from the 33.3 million bags officially estimated for the 2005/06 season. Private analyst Safaris e Merced in Brazil put the 2006/07 crop at 47.75 million bags.