LONDON: Arabica coffee futures on ICE steadied on Monday after earlier hitting two-week lows against the backdrop of a weak Brazilian real and bearish sentiment in wider financial markets.
Cocoa and sugar were little changed.
COFFEE
December arabica coffee edged up 0.1% to $2.00 per lb by 1353 GMT.
Arabica speculators reduced their net long position by 2,277 lots to 45,340 in the week to Oct. 19, data showed.
Dealers cited much-needed weekend rains in top producer Brazil, widespread coffee tree flowering and a weak Brazilian real versus the dollar.
A weak real tempts Brazilian producers and exporters to sell dollar-priced coffee by raising returns in local currency terms.
January robusta coffee rose 0.8% to $2,158 a tonne.
SUGAR
March raw sugar rose 0.3% to 19.14 cents per lb, edging away from last week's three-week low of 18.82 cents.
Raw sugar speculators cut their net long position by 33,515 contracts to 126,148 in the week to Oct. 19, data showed.
Dealers said the market looks set to try to consolidate at current lofty levels, with rains in Brazil weighing somewhat and the risk of more fund long liquidation looming.
December white sugar fell 0.2% to $499.70 a tonne.
Ukrainian sugar refineries have produced 562,300 tonnes of white sugar so far in the 2021/22 refining season, the national sugar union said.
Egypt has strategic sugar reserves sufficient until January-February, a senior supply ministry official said.
COCOA
March London cocoa rose 0.3% to 1,783 pounds a tonne?.
Cocoa arrivals at ports in top grower Ivory Coast since the start of the season on Oct. 1 reached 277,000 tonnes by Oct. 24, exporters estimated, down 15.3% from the same period last season.
Ivorian output has long been expected to fall this season, though recent dry and sunny weather has improved the production outlook.
Meanwhile, recent data on third-quarter demand growth has been largely disappointing, traders and analysts said.
December New York cocoa gained 1.6% to $2,622 a tonne.
New York cocoa speculators switched to a net short position of 10,672 contracts in the week to Oct. 19, cutting 16,667 contracts.