LONDON: Arabica coffee prices on ICE slipped on Thursday after touching fresh 10-year peaks earlier in the session, as exchange-certified stocks touched new 20-year lows and were set to fall below the key 1-million-bags mark.

COFFEE

May arabica coffee fell 1.1% to $2.5560 per lb at 1518 GMT, having hit its highest since September 2011 at $2.6045.

Arabica prices will end the year 5% below current levels as the market moves into balance next season from the current wide deficit that has pushed prices to ten year highs, a Reuters poll of 10 traders and analysts showed.

Top producer Brazil exported 2.9 million 60-kg bags of green coffee in January, 14% less than a year ago as a smaller crop and logistics bottlenecks limited shipments, exporters association Cecafe said.

Certified ICE arabica stocks fell to fresh 20-year lows of 1.04 million bags on Wednesday, down sharply from 1.54 million bags seen at the end of 2021.

Coffee farmers in Brazil had sold 86% of the 2021/22 crop by Feb. 8, outpacing the historical average of about 80%, consultancy Safras & Mercado said.

May robusta coffee fell 0.8% to $2,241 a tonne.

Top producer Vietnam exported 163,324 tonnes of coffee in January, down 3.6% from December last year, data showed.

SUGAR

March raw sugar fell 0.2% to 18.44 cents per lb, under pressure from renewed inflation worries that boosted the dollar. A strong dollar makes dollar-priced assets like sugar costlier for non-US investors.

Dealers noted Indian sugar exports are ticking up and that with 2022/23 being seen in a small surplus, the upside is likely limited at the moment.

France’s farm ministry said it sees the area sown with sugar beet for the 2022 harvest as stable to down 3%.

March white sugar, which expires on Friday, rose 0.8% to $507.30 a tonne.

COCOA

May New York cocoa rose 0.7% to $2,818 a tonne having hit its highest in more than a year at $2,820.

May London cocoa edged up 0.2% to 1,852 pounds per tonne?, having hit its highest in nearly four months at 1,857.