Arabica coffee futures on ICE rebounded from a two-week low on Thursday, up for the first time in five sessions on support from a stronger Brazilian currency, while sugar prices dipped after data showed a strong start to the 2018/19 cane crush there. Brazil is the world's biggest producer of coffee and sugar.
July arabica coffee settled up 0.8 cent, or 0.7 percent, at $1.1955 per lb, after falling to a two-week low at $1.1835. Prices were boosted partly by a strengthening in top producer Brazil's real currency against the dollar, traders said. The real had fallen to a 2016 low the prior session, which made dollar-denominated prices more attractive in local currency terms.
Arabica prices rebounded after tapping a technical support level around $1.185, traders said. July robusta coffee settled down $4, or 0.2 percent, at $1,743 per tonne, after touching a three-week low of $1,728. July raw sugar settled down 0.02 cent, or 0.2 percent, at 11.27 cents per lb, after falling to 11.14 cents.
Prices fell to session lows after data showed Brazil's center-south, the world's largest sugar producing region, crushed about 50 percent more cane in April, the first month of the 2018/19 local crop season, than a year earlier as dry weather accelerated field work. Dealers said the proportion of cane used for sugar rather than ethanol was below the previous season, as expected, but the volume of cane and amount of sucrose in the cane were both above year-ago levels.
Volume was light, however, as industry members gathered for what is called "Sugar Week" in New York, where some participants have forecast lower output from top grower Brazil. India's large crop is expected to more than compensate for the lowest output in a decade from central Brazil. August white sugar settled down 50 cents, or 0.2 percent, at $323.40 per tonne.
The premium for white sugar over its raw equivalent has recovered to about $70 a tonne recently. "Those levels might interest some Thai millers but are unlikely to be high enough for most standalone refineries," Commonwealth Bank of Australia's Tobin Gorey said in a note, referring to the white premium over raws. July New York cocoa settled down $8, or 0.3 percent, at $2,762 per tonne. July London cocoa settled up 7 pounds, or 0.4 percent, at 1,931 pounds per tonne.