Arabica coffee recovers after hitting two-month low, sugar flat

NEW YORK/LONDON: Arabica coffee futures closed up on ICE on Friday, recovering in the final moments of the session after sliding during the session to the lowest level in more than two months.

Raw sugar closed stable while cocoa fell, weighed down by a broad decline in commodity and other financial markets.

COFFEE

December arabica coffee settled up 1.9 cents, or 1.8%, at $1.0895 per lb, after touching a more than two-month low of $1.0490.

Dealers said fundamentals appeared bearish, with strong exports out of Brazil after a huge harvest this year. But price corrections to the upside were seen as possible after the recent slide.

The International Coffee Organization, in a report issued on Friday, said it estimated there was a global surplus of 1.54 million 60-kg bags in 2019/20 as consumption was hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.

"This surplus, coupled with the majority of Brazil's 2020/21 crop, an on-year in the biennial Arabica production cycle, reaching the market in the next few months, will limit further recovery in prices," the ICO said.

November robusta coffee settled up $2, or 0.2%, at $1,290 a tonne.

SUGAR

March raw sugar settled down 0.03 cents, or 0.2%, at 13.55 cents per lb.

Dealers said the market was digesting the huge delivery against the October contract, which expired on Wednesday, with concerns it might have been driven partly by weaker than expected demand from China.

"Hopes that China would increase its (reduced-tariff) import quotas have ... not been fulfilled as yet," Commerzbank said in a note.

Speculators increased again their bullish bet in raw sugar futures to near 160,000 contracts, one of the largest long positions for the sweetener in the last 5 years.

December white sugar settled down $1.30, or 0.3%, at $373.70 a tonne.

COCOA

December London cocoa settled down 39 pounds, or 2.2%, to 1,733 pounds per tonne.

Dealers noted recent rains in top grower Ivory Coast had helped to improve the main-crop outlook.

December New York cocoa settled down $26, or 1.0%, to $2,482 a tonne.

Speculators raised slightly their long position in New York cocoa futures in the week to Sept. 29.