Arabica coffee futures extend rebound, raw sugar edges up

LONDON: Arabica coffee futures on ICE rose on Tuesday, extending a rebound from a recent 13-year low, while raw sugar prices were marginally higher.

COFFEE

* July arabica coffee futures were 1.30 cents, or 1.45%, higher at 90.90 cents per lb by 1421 GMT, pulling away from a 13-year low of 87.60 cents set earlier this month.

* Dealers said the market may rise further in the short term following a prolonged decline driven by excess supplies after last year's record crop in Brazil.

* "We suspect that prices are bottoming out and should pick up slightly by the end of this year," Capital Economics said in a market note, forecasting that prices could rise to 105 cents per lb this year.

* Dealers said low prices were beginning to have an adverse impact on production.

* "Prices remain below production costs in many countries with producers leaving farms in Central and South America," Rabobank said in a market update, adding there could be a reduction in global supply in 2019/20.

* July robusta coffee rose $31, or 2.3%, to $1,377 a tonne, extending its rebound from a nine-year low of $1,267 set earlier this month.

* Capital Economics forecast that robusta prices could recover to $1,600 a tonne this year.

SUGAR

* July raw sugar rose by 0.03 cent, or 0.25%, to 11.87 cents per lb.

* Dealers said the market had stabilised after falling sharply in the second half of April and early May.

* Supplies remained ample, however, while trade conflict between the United States and China kept overall commodity markets on the defensive.

* "We don't see anything on the horizon in the short term to alter the bearish picture other than an unexpected bullish macro development (a resolution of the US/China trade talks for example)," Sucden Financial senior trader Nick Penney said in a market note.

* ICE August white sugar was up $0.30, or 0.1%, at $326.70 a tonne.

COCOA

* July London cocoa was up 6 pounds, or 0.35%, at 1,708 pounds a tonne.

* Dealers noted a weakening in the front month May's premium to July <LCC-1=R> to around 108 pounds from 155 pounds at the close on Monday.

* A shortage of good-quality cocoa in Europe had helped to drive up the May contract's premium recently.

* July New York cocoa rose by $39, or 1.7%, to $2,326 a tonne.