Robusta coffee futures on ICE dipped after matching the prior session's two-year high on Wednesday, pressured by a bout of technical selling, while arabica retreated from Tuesday's four-week peak to fall for the first time in six days. Sugar prices also eased but remained within the two-week trading range they have been in since falling from 2012 highs as the market awaited new fundamentals.
Cocoa prices were quietly higher as traders awaited third-quarter grind data for North America, with estimates pegging it at a 2-3 percent rise. The data is set for release Thursday at 4 pm (2000 GMT). January robusta coffee settled down $24, or 1.1 percent, at $2,129 per tonne, after climbing to $2,161, equalling the prior session's two-year peak.
"Technically, they are due for a breather, robusta even more so," said one US trader about both coffee markets. Dealers said the technical correction was expected after robusta jumped more than 4 percent in the prior two sessions. It has surged more than 60 percent above a 5-1/2-year low reached in January due to supply concerns in Vietnam and Brazil. "I don't necessarily think the uptrend is changing," said Kona Haque, head of research at commodities house ED&F Man.
"In Brazil, it's clear that the conillon (robusta) crop was smaller than expected and we're still a few weeks away from the Vietnam harvest, so there is some tightness in the market right now." December arabica coffee settled down 0.9 cent, or 0.6 percent, at $1.5785 per lb. Total open interest rose for the eighth straight session on Tuesday to 193,462 lots, the highest since June 6, ICE data showed.
Sugar futures fell, with March raws settled down 0.07 cent, or 0.3 percent, at 22.95 cents per lb. December white sugar settled down $3.80, or 0.6 percent, at $594.10 per tonne.
Sugar mills in India's top producing western state of Maharashtra are allowed to start crushing operations November 5, nearly a month earlier than a previously fixed commencement date, a senior government official told Reuters. Cocoa futures edged up, with December New York cocoa closing up $26, or 1 percent, at $2,724 per tonne. The move lifted its premium over March to $85, a contract high, as the 2016/17 crop in top grower Ivory Coast got off to a slow start. March London cocoa settled up 12 pounds, or 0.6 percent, at 2,180 pounds per tonne.