LONDON: Robusta coffee prices on ICE hit their lowest level in nine years on Tuesday as arabica coffee struck a 13-year low on oversupply concerns, while raw sugar prices recovered.
COFFEE
July robusta coffee fell $47, or 3.5 percent, to $1,298 a tonne by 1353 GMT, having touched its lowest since April 2010 at $1,282.
A dealer said the fundamentals meant it was inevitable that robusta, which had performed relatively well compared with arabica this year, would succumb to selling pressure.
Arabica has come under massive selling pressure this year from oversupply, especially in Brazil, the biggest and most efficient producer.
Also weighing on coffee was a weaker Brazilian real , which can encourage selling of dollar-denominated commodities such as coffee.
July arabica coffee lost 1.9 cents, or 2.1 percent, to 88.30 cents per lb after dropping to a 13-year low of 87.80 cents.
July arabica could fall towards 87.55 cents, having broken support at 90.45 cents, according to Reuters technicals analyst Wang Tao.
Speculators reduced their net short position in arabica coffee by 5,000 lots in the week to April 30, US data showed, while commercials lowered their net long position.
One dealer said the data showed commercial or physical industry players selling to speculators, offering a bearish signal.
SUGAR
July raw sugar was flat at 11.88 cents per lb after dipping to 11.84 cents on Monday, the weakest for the July contract since October.
Prices steadied on short-covering, having been pressured over the past few sessions by concern about plentiful supplies out of India.
"It was probably somewhat inevitable that some early correction would be seen (today). However, the market remains weak and further losses cannot be ruled out," a dealer said.
Brazil is expected to produce a smaller cane crop in 2019/20 than in the previous season, but sugar output is set to rise, government agency Conab said.
Sugar has been largely rangebound this year but broke out of that on Friday when prices fell below 12 cents.
ICE August white sugar fell $1.50, or 0.5 percent, to $325.80 a tonne.
COCOA
July London cocoa was down 36 pounds, or 2 percent, at 1,729 pounds a tonne, remaining within its trading range since early April.
July New York cocoa fell $39, or 1.7 percent, to $2,299 a tonne.
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