Liffe coffee rises

Liffe September robusta coffee rebounded to end up $41 at $2,432 a tonne on Wednesday after falling sharply on Tuesday to their lowest level for the benchmark second month since late April. Liffe August white sugar closes $3.50 higher at $706.50 per tonne. Shipping delays in key sugar producers Brazil and Thailand were supportive.
Liffe September cocoa ended 1 pound lower at 1,845 pounds a tonne as ample West African supplies weighed. Cocoa futures were little changed as dealers tracked ample flows of beans from West Africa but noted concerns over quality.
"If you end up having a big delivery against expiry of the ICE July contract on June 30, with much of the sugar Brazilian, you could end up having an even bigger queue of ships at Brazilian ports," a senior London sugar futures dealer said.
Dealers said upside sugar price potential was capped by expectations of sizeable exports from India and the EU. "Recent weather in the northern hemisphere may be easing drought stress on beets, so outturn from this area may be higher than previously estimated," said Nick Penney of brokerage Sucden Financial.
Premiums for Thai sugar slipped on Wednesday as consumers waited to see if rates would fall as cane crushing gained pace in top producer Brazil and millers in India expressed interest in exporting more of the sweetener, dealers said.
"If there is no more talk of frost, people could decide to sell," one veteran coffee futures dealer said. Dealers voiced concerns over quality of beans but said the issue did not appear to be having a market impact yet.
"Concerns over quality could detract from the large West African supplies, but they are not really underpinning the market," one senior London cocoa dealer said.
Cocoa output from top grower Ivory Coast is running 14 percent higher than last year, but recent heavy rains have caused quality to slip, exporters said on Tuesday.
Abundant rains in Ivory Coast's cocoa-growing regions last week raised concerns over bean quality from the top grower country during the remainder of the April-September midcrop, farmers and analysts said.