Arabica coffee futures settled lower on profit-taking on Monday after reaching a five-week high earlier in the session. Profit-taking and technical activity pressured New York cocoa prices to settle down. December arabica coffee settled down 1.05 cent, or 0.7 percent, at $1.4035 per lb. Profit-taking pressured prices, a US trader said.
Concerns about dry weather in top-grower Brazil prompted short-covering earlier in the trade, dealers said, causing arabica to touch a five-week high of $1.4325 per lb. Dry weather is expected to continue across Brazil's coffee belt for the next 6-10 days, Gaithersburg, Maryland-based MDA Information systems said in a report. November robusta coffee settled up $13, or 0.7 percent, at $2,005 per tonne, before touching a two-week high of $2,018.
October raw sugar settled down 0.25 cent, or 1.6 percent, at 14.92 cents per lb, after dipping to a session low of 14.07, with the market consolidating after its recent run-up in prices. After last week's short-covering rally, prices were pressured by profit-taking on Monday, the US trader said. "And that's why whatever longs came into the market again are taking some profits," the US trader added.
Speculators trimmed a net short position in raw sugar in the week to Sept. 12, US government data showed on Friday. "The positions report suggests investors still have substantially more to buy so we probably have not seen the last of this action," said analyst Tobin Gorey of Commonwealth Bank of Australia. December white sugar settled down $6.70, or 1.8 percent, at $376.90 per tonne, after reaching a 2-1/2 week high of $383.40.
Dealers said the prospect of a bumper crop in the European Union continued to weigh on white sugar prices. The European Union's crop-monitoring service raised its yield forecast for this year's EU sugar beet harvest, citing upward revisions for Germany and Poland. December New York cocoa settled down $34, or 1.7 percent, at $1,975 per tonne, after reaching $2,022, a three-week high.
Profit-taking and technical action pressured cocoa prices, said Jason Estrada, a Miami, Florida-based senior trader at INTL FC Stone Financial. "It breached the 200-day moving average, but couldn't sustain a move above it and the markets reversed," Estrada said. December London cocoa settled down 10 pounds, or 0.7 percent, at 1,474 pounds per tonne.