LONDON: Arabica coffee futures on ICE were lower on Friday, slipping from a 10-year high set earlier this week, as concerns about a new coronavirus variant diminished risk appetite in financial markets.

Sugar and cocoa prices also fell.

Coffee

March arabica coffee fell 1.75% to $2.4110 per lb by 1103 GMT. The market had climbed to a 10-year high of $2.4820 on Wednesday.

Dealers said the market continued to derive support from declining exchange stocks as shipments from South America are delayed both by a shortage of container shipping capacity and a reluctance of producers to sell.

January robusta coffee rose 0.2% to $2,296 a tonne.

Delays to the harvest in top robusta producer Vietnam remained a supportive factor.

Arabica coffee heads back towards multi-year highs

Cocoa

March London cocoa fell 2% to 1,684 pounds a tonne.

Dealers said the market remained underpinned, however, by a pick-up in demand and sentiment, and that it is likely to recover further in 2022.

"We expect the continued demand recovery to send prices higher," Fitch Solutions said in a note.

March New York cocoa was down 2.1% at $2,460 a tonne.

The contract may test a support at $2,470 per tonne, a break below which could cause a fall into $2,410-$2,445 range, according to Reuters market analyst Wang Tao.

Sugar

March raw sugar lost 1.7% to 19.60 cents per lb, extending the market's retreat from a 4-1/2 year high of 20.69 cents set last week.

March white sugar fell 1.1% to $505.40 a tonne.