Arabica coffee on ICE eked out its first gain in 14 sessions on Friday as light profit-taking lifted prices from the day's 4-1/2-year low, as robusta coffee recovered from an over three-year low set as big output weighed. Cocoa futures posted their biggest down week since June, as ICE raw sugar futures eased to a second straight weekly loss. December arabica futures on ICE Futures US finished up 0.15 cent, or 0.1 percent, at $1.0555 per lb.
Prices dipped to $1.0425 per lb, their lowest level since March 2009 and slid to a third straight weekly loss. The slight recovery on the day was a "breather" on profit-taking ahead of the weekend following thirteen daily losses, said Christopher Narayanan, director and head of agricultural commodities research at Societe Generale. "This offers hope that lows around $1.02 will hold, but the overall trend is very bearish," Narayanan said.
Dealers said that arabica could breach $1, a key psychological level, as the excess supplies and technical weakness weigh. Rains in Brazil favourable for flowering raised the prospects of yet another big crop next season in the top grower. Liffe January robusta coffee turned up after setting a more-than-three-year low of $1,453, pressured by Vietnam's huge harvest.
The second month finished up $7, or 0.5 percent, at $1,489 a tonne. Vietnam is planning to stockpile beans in a big to boost flagging prices in the world's second-largest coffee producer. Certified robusta coffee stocks held in NYSE Liffe-nominated warehouses fell to 53,020 tonnes as of October 28, from 56,150 tonnes as of October 14, exchange data showed.
ICE December cocoa fell $26, nearly 1 percent, to $2,651 a tonne, as harvests gathered pace in West Africa, the world's top growing region. Spot prices finished the week down more than 2 percent in the biggest weekly loss in more than four months. Long liquidation has picked because of harvest and technical pressure after prices hit a more than two-year of $2,780 set on October 22.
"We're in the peak harvest time. (But) it could be that we see strength in pricing again towards the end of the year," said Jack Scoville, vice president for Price Futures Group in Chicago. London March cocoa eased 2 pounds, or 0.1 percent, to finished at 1,702 pounds per tonne. In sugar, ICE March futures closed down 0.07 cent, or 0.4 percent, at 18.25 cents a lb, after easing to a one-month low of 18.20 cents a lb. Liffe December white sugar finished down $2, or 0.4 percent, at $481.30 a tonne after falling to a one-month low of $480.30.