LONDON: Arabica coffee futures on ICE steadied on Monday after hitting a 1-1/2-year low in the prior session, while raw sugar gained as hopes for an end to the Middle East conflict frayed amid fresh attacks that sent oil prices higher.
COFFEE
Arabica coffee rose 0.3percent to USD2.4720 per lb at 1405 GMT, after setting a 1-1/2-year low of USD2.4330 on Friday. “Global (coffee) output is expected to reach a record level in 2026/27,” said Rabobank. Nearer term, however, farmers in top grower Brazil, whose harvest is getting underway, are resisting selling large volumes at current prices.
Brazil’s coffee harvest for the 2026/27 season had reached 23percent of the planted area as of June 2, behind the five-year average of 27percent, agribusiness consultancy firm Safras & Mercado said. Robusta coffee rose 0.8percent to USD3,342 a ton, having lost 5percent last week.
SUGAR
Raw sugar edged up 0.2percent to 14.17 cents per lb, having posted a small gain of 0.6percent last week. Oil prices rose more than 5percent amid renewed strikes by US ally Israel on Iran and Lebanon, though it later pared gains. Rising oil prices are bullish for sugar as they tend to encourage cane mills to produce less sugar and more ethanol, a cane- and corn-based biofuel.
Dealers are also keeping a close watch on the monsoon in India, the world’s second-biggest sugar producer, with a slow start raising some crop concerns.
White sugar edged up 0.1percent to USD447.20 a ton, having gained 2percent last week.
COCOA
London cocoa rose 2percent to £2,934 per ton, having lost 2percent last week. Rainfall was well above average last week in most of top producer Ivory Coast’s cocoa-growing regions, farmers said on Monday, adding this had renewed hopes for a strong finish to the March-to-August mid-crop. Looking ahead, dealers said the outlook was increasingly bullish given concerns remain about next season’s output due to a still-moderate pod count. Demand for the chocolate ingredient is also expected to pick up. New York cocoa rose 2.3percent to USD3,848 a ton.
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