Raw sugar falls more than 2pc on fund sales; coffee closes down
- Rains that are forecast to reach Brazil's main coffee areas this weekend and intensify in the days after could delay some harvest work, but are expected to improve conditions for next year's crop.
NEW YORK/LONDON: Raw sugar futures on ICE closed more than 2pc lower on Friday as speculators liquidated part of their large long position amid a stronger dollar. Arabica prices reverted earlier gains to close down, despite persisting transportation problems in Colombia.
SUGAR
July raw sugar ??settled down 0.37 cent, or 2.2pc, at 16.67 cents per lb, hitting a one-month low of 16.60 cents during the session.
Dealers said speculators, who hold a large long position in the sweetener, liquidated contracts as the U.S. dollar gained strength. Macroeconomic indicators were generally negative for commodities on Friday.
The announcement from India of a cut on export subsidies is unlikely to have any serious impact on the season's exports, dealers said, as it is widely thought Indian traders had contracted to sell over 5.5 million tonnes of the 6 million tonne export target before the subsidy cut.
Brazil's cane industry group Unica is expected to release production data next week.
August white sugar ??settled down $6.00, or 1.3pc, at $447.40 a tonne.
COFFEE
July arabica coffee settled down 0.85 cent, or 0.6pc, at $1.501 per lb??, having set a four-year peak of $1.5365 on Thursday.
Road blockades connected to weeks of anti-government protests in Colombia, the world's second largest arabica exporter, were still in place, stymieing exports and causing food and gasoline shortages.
U.S.-based coffee importer Caravela told clients on Friday that shipments of Colombian coffee will be delayed by up to five weeks as a result of the protests.
Rains that are forecast to reach Brazil's main coffee areas this weekend and intensify in the days after could delay some harvest work, but are expected to improve conditions for next year's crop.
July robusta coffee fell $12, or 0.8pc, at $1,478 a tonne.
COCOA
July London cocoa ?settled up 2 pounds, or 0.1pc, to 1,634 pounds per tonne??.
July New York cocoa ?closed up $12, or 0.5pc, to $2,456 a tonne??.
"Cocoa will remain weak during most of 2021 as it will take time for demand to recover, and we expect much more significant rises in 2022," said Fitch Solutions in a note.
It sees London cocoa averaging 1,750 this year.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.