Arabica coffee and raw sugar futures on ICE turned higher on Wednesday, after finding support in a fairly muted response to the US election result, while London cocoa inched down to a nine-month low as traders expected abundant supplies. "The overall fundamental picture for coffee and sugar hasn't really changed," said Jack Scoville, vice president with Price Futures Group in Chicago.
"We're looking for less supply than demand in both markets. You're seeing that coming back to the roost. We had a big takedown day yesterday and tested support." December arabica coffee settled up 2.6 cents, or 1.6 percent, at $1.701 per lb, below Tuesday's high of $1.76, its highest since January 2015. Total open interest fell for the first time in 23 sessions on Tuesday, coming off a record, exchange data showed.
The Brazilian real fell as Donald Trump's victory in the US presidential elections caught traders off-guard, but both coffee and sugar prices shrugged this off later in the session. A weaker real is seen as bearish for coffee and sugar, making prices more attractive in local currency terms in the world's top exporter of both commodities.
Brazil's coffee exporters association Cecafe said green coffee exports were down 10 percent in October year-over-year. January robusta coffee settled up $48, or 2.3 percent, at $2,133 per tonne, with the market underpinned by tight supplies following poor crops in Indonesia and Brazil and the prospect of a smaller harvest in Vietnam this season. "I think the robusta market has very tight fundamentals but in the arabica market we have good crops in central America, Colombia, Peru," said Rabobank analyst Carlos Mera, adding he expected arabica prices to fall further.
Sugar futures were also lower with March raws ending up 0.14 cent, or 0.6 percent, at 22.11 cents per lb. December whites settled up $3.70, or 0.6 percent, at $577.70 per tonne. "We expect liquidation by speculative and fund investors to continue," said Sucden Financial senior trader Nick Penney, when prices were lower, noting there should be support for March raws around the 100-day moving average of 21.21 cents.
Improving outlook for crops in West Africa continued to weigh on cocoa prices. March London cocoa futures settled down 19 pounds, or 0.9 percent, at 2,023 pounds per tonne, after reaching the lowest since February at 2,019 pounds. March New York cocoa settled down $14, or 0.6 percent, at $2,451 per tonne, edging back down towards Monday's 3-year low of $2,437.
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