Arabica coffee at seven-week low, London cocoa at 1-1/2-year trough

Arabica coffee futures on ICE fell to a seven-week low on Tuesday, pressured by broad based selling of commodities and beneficial rain in top grower Brazil, while the firm British pound helped push London cocoa to a 1-1/2-year low. Sugar prices also fell, as the 19-commodity Thomson Reuters CoreCommodity Index dropped around 2 percent as US crude oil prices slumped more than 4 percent on signs leading oil exporters in Opec were struggling to agree on a deal to reduce global oversupply.
March arabica coffee futures settled down 3.6 cents, or 2.3 percent, at $1.5305 per lb, after tapping $1.525, its lowest since October 10. January robusta coffee settled down $32, or 1.5 percent, at $2,046 per tonne, with traders noting that supply of Vietnamese coffee is expected to rise in coming weeks as the harvest accelerates to its end in December.
In cocoa, March London futures fell as sterling bounced back against the dollar in the absence of new concerns over how Britain will leave the European Union. Traders noted fund selling pressured London cocoa futures. London March cocoa settled down 7 pounds, or 0.4 percent, at 1,968 pounds per tonne, after falling to 1,953 pounds, the lowest since April 2015. It remained at technically oversold levels on the relative strength index.
March New York cocoa settled up $13, or 0.5 percent, at $2,415 per tonne, supported by the British currency. Raw sugar futures turned lower but held technical support just above last week's 2-1/2-month low.
March raw sugar settled down 0.28 cent, or 1.4 percent, at 19.66 cents per lb. It was on track to close lower in November, its second straight monthly decline as funds scaled back long positions. The price drop has attracted physical buying, traders said. Brazil's center-south region produced 1.36 million tonnes of sugar in the first half of November, down from the 2.05 million tonnes in the second half of October. "We've come off the highs. The Brazilian numbers showed slightly more sugar than expected," said a London-based trader.
"Prices should fade in Q2 next year as most trade houses have a surplus going into 2018." A global sugar surplus of about two million tonnes is expected in the 2017-18 season as production increases after two years of deficit, Sucden said on Tuesday. March white sugar settled down $4.20, or 0.8 percent, at $525.20 per tonne.