Raw sugar futures on ICE rose on Wednesday, erasing the prior session's losses, while arabica coffee rebounded above Tuesday's 2005 low, with both commodities trading in thin volume and buoyed by the strengthening currency in top grower Brazil. March raw sugar settled up 0.14 cent, or 1.2 percent, at 11.64 cents per lb, after falling 7.6 percent over the past three sessions.
The move came after total open interest fell for the 18th straight session, reaching an eight-month low of 811,721 lots, ICE data showed. Prices were up on a strengthening Brazilian currency, which reached its firmest level in over a week. A stronger real discourages producer selling by reducing local returns on dollar-traded commodities.
The bounce came after prices fell on worries of a possible surge of exports from India, which is considering proposals to support its sugar industry. "The market is expecting India's government to move on subsidies to enable exports of up to 5 million tonnes starting from October 1," Nick Penney, senior trader at Sucden Financial, said in a market update.
December white sugar settled up $1.10, or 0.3 percent, at $330.20 per tonne. December arabica coffee settled up 0.85 cent, or 0.9 percent, at 96.70 cents per lb. Though prices briefly breached the key $1.00 psychological level, "we're going to need to see a close above that dollar level to see a possible turnaround," said Boyd Cruel, senior market strategist at High Ridge Futures.
Arabica plunged to its lowest price since December 2005 in the prior session, dragged down by a record crop and weak currency in top-grower Brazil, as well as persistent short-selling. November robusta coffee settled down $5, or 0.3 percent, at $1,487 a tonne.
December New York cocoa settled down $47, or 2 percent, at $2,195 a tonne, after dipping to $2,189, its lowest in a month. While options activity suggests that cocoa prices could move higher, such technical indicators are counterbalanced by fundamental factors, said Peter Mooses, senior market strategist for RJO Futures in Chicago. "The demand concern keeps lurking - that there's just not enough demand globally for the market to move higher," said Mooses.
Dealers pointed to some light short-selling by speculators and hedging by producers from Ivory Coast and Cameroon. December London cocoa settled down 26 pounds, or 1.6 percent, at 1,566 pounds per tonne. Mars Wrigley Confectionery launched a new sustainability strategy to tackle what it called the "broken" cocoa supply chain.