Arabica coffee futures closed down on Wednesday, easing further away from a 34-year high touched earlier this month, while cocoa was little changed as an export ban in top grower Ivory Coast kept things at a standstill. Raw sugar volume dribbled lower on follow-through sales by small speculators in the lightest daily volume in nearly three months, as many players were sidelined waiting for the start of Brazil's prime centre-south harvest, dampening interest in the sweetener, dealers said.
ICE May arabica coffee dropped 4.85 cents, or 1.77 percent, to settle at $2.6860 per lb. It was an inside day relative to Tuesday's trading range. ICE May cocoa inched down $12 to settle at $3,251 per tonne, below the recent 32-year peak of $3,775. ICE May raw sugar futures fell 0.58 cent to close at 26.58 cents per lb.