Robusta coffee slips from 10-year peak, sugar edges up

LONDON: Robusta coffee futures on ICE were lower on Friday, slipping back from the previous session's 10-year peak, while sugar prices edged higher.

Coffee

March robusta coffee fell 0.3% to $2,366 a tonne by 1232 GMT. The benchmark second position climbed to a 10-year high of $2,384 on Thursday.

Dealers said supply chain issues had disrupted shipments from top robusta producer Vietnam while the market had also been supported this year by the strength of arabica prices.

Robusta coffee prices are on track to end the year up about 71%.

March arabica coffee fell 1.1% to $2.2760 per lb.

Arabica coffee prices are on track to end the year with an annual gain of about 77% with drought and frost in top producer Brazil earlier this year helping fuel gains.

Robusta coffee holds near recent peak, sugar weakens

Sugar

March raw sugar was 0.4% higher at 18.85 cents per lb.

Dealers said the market had been boosted this year by declining stocks with a global deficit in the 2020/21 season(October/September) generally expected to be followed by another deficit in the current 2021/22 season.

Raw sugar prices are on track to end the year with an annual gain of about 22%.

March white sugar rose 0.4% to $496.70 a tonne.

White sugar prices are on track to end the year with an annual gain of about 18%.

Cocoa

March New York cocoa was down 1% at $2,533 a tonne.

New York cocoa prices are on track to end the year with an annual loss of about 3%.

Dealers said the cocoa market had struggled to keep pace with many other agricultural markets this year with favourable crop conditions in West Africa helping to generate a large global surplus in the 2020/21 (October/September) season.

March London cocoa fell 0.2% to 1,706 pounds a tonne.

London cocoa prices are on track to end the year with an annual loss of about 2%.