London robusta coffee futures closed down on profit-taking on Thursday after nudging close to nine-year peaks, while cocoa and sugar were dominated by position rolling ahead of contract expires next week. September robustas settled down $47 or 2.34 percent at $1,874 per tonne in good volume of 16,373 lots.
"There's a little concern over the long position in the market. We had a bit of profit-taking and then we hit stops at $1,910 and $1,900 which accelerated the slide. But there's no fresh news out there," one robusta futures trader said. Another said: "A large spec or a big trade house more than likely is taking profit from its long position."
Dealers said robustas had climbed to a session high of $1,925, not far short of the June 22 nine-year peak of $1,945. As momentum to attack that high failed to materialise, operators took profits.
Volumes had built up markedly in the afternoon after a morning session featuring two-way speculative trades by small and mid-size operators in light volumes, traders said. The market remained well-supported because of strong demand for robusta coffee and tight supplies, and traders said they expected speculators again to drive prices higher to challenge the nine-year peaks soon. Resistance in September stood at the key $1,945 level, with support seen at $1,850-1,860.
Arabica coffee prices should rise from current levels towards year end as stocks tighten but robusta may fall from recent nine-year highs if top grower Vietnam has another big crop, a Reuters poll showed on Tuesday.
Uganda's coffee production is expected to increase by about 14 percent to at least 2.5 million 60 kg-bags in 2007 from 2.2 million previously, the coffee board said on Thursday.
COCOA AND SUGAR: London cocoa and white sugar futures trade focused on rolling of positions out of the front month ahead of contract expires on Monday July 16, dealers said. September cocoa settled up 5 pounds at 1,107 pounds per tonne in hefty volume of 21,303 lots.
"Most of the trading was July against September (rolling)," one dealer said. Dealers saw resistance in September at 1,111-1,112 pounds and then at 1,120 ahead of the recent 4-1/2-year peak of 1,146 pounds, with support at 1,090 and 1,075. However, traders said the market remained hemmed in by worries over the political situation in Ivory Coast, with the strong pound sterling against the dollar possibly capping gains.
One trader said the June 29 rocket attack on the prime minister of Ivory Coast, the world's top cocoa grower, continued to influence market sentiment. A 72-hour strike by customs officers halted cocoa exports from Ivory Coast's ports on Thursday, but union members said services would resume on Friday.
Cocoa arrivals in the port city of Lagos, Nigeria's main export route, fell 39 percent to 5,500 tonnes in June compared with the same month last year, an average of estimates by traders showed on Thursday.
In a Reuters poll on Tuesday, cocoa prices were seen holding up through 2007 but rebounding output by the world's top grower, Ivory Coast, may exert pressure in 2008 and volatile politics there remained a wild card.
London white sugar futures were pressured by speculative selling and rolling of positions out of the August front month contract into October before the August expiry on Monday. August finished down $2.00 or 0.65 percent to $308.00 per tonne in brisk volume of 4,285 lots.