Arabica coffee futures settled lower on Monday, falling on profit-taking after soaring to a 13-1/2 year high. March arabica coffee futures eased 0.20 cent to finish at $2.4480 per lb, after hitting $2.5075, the highest level for the spot contract since June 1997. Spot contract finished the month up 1.8 percent.
March shot up to its peak after Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) data showed Friday that the noncommercial net long position fell to 38,791 lots by January 25, down nearly 9 percent from the previous week. The data that was released after the market closed Friday attracted early buying, including by commercials - traders.
Market fell from its highs as the $2.50 level attracted profit-taking, said traders. ICE certified arabica stocks drop to 1,638,206 bags on January 28, down 7,256 bags from the previous day - ICE data.
US cocoa futures resumed their rally on uncertainty in top grower Ivory Coast and corrected to close higher in heavy spread activity while the spot contract returned to a discount to the second position. Benchmark March cocoa futures rose $75, or 2.3 percent, to settle at $3,352 per tonne. Finished January up 10.4 percent, its biggest monthly percentage gain since September 2009, as the political crisis in top grower Ivory Coast worsened and a 30-day export ban on cocoa was observed.
Market corrected higher after Friday's fall and was dominated by fund position rolling ahead of the spot contract's first notice day February 14, said traders. While much of the position rolling was out of March into May, there was also a significant amount of spreading out of May 2011 into March 2012, according to traders.
March moved back to a discount to May futures for the first time since January 20, after the premium narrowed to $2 on Friday. Cocoa continued to reach Ivory Coast's ports last week, but virtually none of it was registered for export as shippers observed a ban called by presidential claimant Alassane Ouattara.
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