May white sugar ended $25.00 lower at $714.00 a tonne on Wednesday. Market weighed by a firmer dollar, technically-driven selling and a lack of buying by key importers. May cocoa on Liffe ended 30 pounds lower at 2,256 pounds a tonne. Talk that closely watched independent forecaster has raised its forecast for the Ivorian mid-crop helped to fuel the decline in prices.
May robusta coffee ended $6 lower at $1,310 per tonne. Stronger dollar and losses in other commodity markets, including cocoa and sugar, contributed to weakness.
Earlier, sugar futures fell sharply on Wednesday, retreating further from this month's multi-year highs as currency fundamentals ran against the market along with concerns over a lack of nearby physical demand. Cocoa and coffee prices on ICE also fell, influenced by the dollar's gains against the euro and a basket of major currencies, making dollar-priced commodities costlier for non-US investors.
Having vaulted 29-year and record highs respectively on tight supply, London and New York sugar prices have reached an impasse - with dealers looking nearby physical offtake to shore up the market. Raw sugar is now around 13 percent below a 29-year high of 30.40 cents a lb set on February 1. Traders said it was unlikely that Pakistan would buy any sugar at a tender for 200,000 tonnes of whites.
A low bid at Wednesday's tender came from a non-prequalified bidder who was not widely known in the market. "We've had another disappointment in the Pakistan tender today without anything being concluded. It is another bit of disappointing news for nearby offtake," said Toby Cohen, head of research at merchant Czarnikow. Dealers said, however, the drop in prices could entice cash buyers once the current wave of selling subsides.
Australia, Brazil and Thailand, the world's top three sugar exporters, will meet World Trade Organisation (WTO) officials in Geneva on Thursday to press their case for immediate withdrawal of out-of-quota sugar exports by the European Union, Australia's trade ministry said on Wednesday.