New York arabica coffee futures closed lower on Tuesday after enjoying moderate gains for most of the session, but traders said locals, who accounted for much of the day's light volume, took profits at the end.
"Very uneventful day today. It was all locals. We saw a little bit of roaster buying early in the morning. Otherwise, afterwards, it was just locals buying on the strength in London. In both markets, though, they came off heading into the close just because they took some profits," said one trader.
The New York Board of Trade's arabica coffee contract for September delivery finished with a small 0.05 cent loss at 97.10 cents a lb after trading in a 96.80 to 98.00 range.
December coffee also lost 0.05 cent to end at 101.10 cents. Most other arabica contracts also ended 0.05 lower. Traders added that selling in other commodity markets added pressure to coffee prices towards the end. The forecaster repeated that they see no damaging cold weather and dry conditions persist in coffee growing regions.
In Sao Paulo, a private forecaster said Tuesday a new cold front would approach south-eastern Brazil by July 26 and bring rain to coffee belt trees, but no crop-damaging cold. Coffee futures in Sao Paulo were down about 0.08 to 1.44 percent late in the session. Elsewhere, coffee prices at Kenya's weekly auction were mixed, with a few lots attracting good prices and the rest suffering due to quality, according to brokers.
One coffee exporter said the auction prices were high for the time of year, and that less coffee was available. NYBOT arabica futures trading volume was estimated at a light 8,190 contracts, down from Monday's official tally at 15,745 lots. Monday's open interest in arabica coffee futures rose to 120,241 contracts by the end of Friday, exchange data showed.