ICE arabica coffee trading on the open-outcry platform crept to a lower close on Tuesday, retracing on Monday's sharp gains on two-sided speculative trade, traders said. "The market's just consolidating here until there's something new regarding the weather. It's the beginning of the weather market.
If it rains (in Brazil) we will go lower, if it doesn't we could go higher," said one coffee dealer. The ICE open-outcry benchmark December inched down 0.55 cent to finish at $1.1950 per lb., moving in a range from $1.1840 to $1.2035.
The rest of the board also ended weak, ranging from 0.35 to 0.55 cent lower. On the ICE screen, December coffee slipped 0.45 cent to $1.1960 a lb. by 1:50 pm EDT (1750 GMT) with trades spanning from $1.1855 to $1.2035.
DTN Meteorlogix said top coffee grower Brazil would see mainly dry conditions with above-normal temperatures through on Saturday. Robusta coffee futures in London set a fresh two-month high, supported by concern about supply tightness ahead of Vietnam's next crop. Life's November contract ended up $14 at $1,904 per tonne, moving from $1,866 to $1,922. ICE estimated final open-outcry coffee volume at light 865 lots, while traders pegged electronic trading volume at 8,852 contracts at 1:08 pm EDT.
This compares to the 3,155 lots that traded in the pit on Monday, when 16,853 lots were dealt on the screen. Open interest increased 3,164 lots to 159,522 as of September 10, exchange data showed.
ICE Futures US ceased pit trade for one minute at 8:46 am EDT (1246 GMT), 9:03 am, 9:59 am and 10:29 am, to mark the sixth anniversary of the September 11 hijacked plane attacks on the World Trade Centre. Electronic dealers were asked to refrain from trade during the moments of silence.