NEW YORK/LONDON: Arabica coffee futures on ICE eased on Friday, with the outlook for Brazil's 2020 crop remaining favorable despite last weekend's frost, while August white sugar tumbled to an 11-month low ahead of the contract's expiry next week.
COFFEE
* September arabica coffee settled down 0.3 cent, or 0.3%, at $1.0665 per lb.
* On the week, the contract lost nearly 3.9%.
* Much of the week's losses occurred on Monday, when prices fell sharply as early assessments of a weekend frost in top-grower Brazil indicated only minor damage to crops.
* A firmer Brazilian real, however, helped limit losses and underpin the market. A stronger real can discourage selling by Brazilian producers.
* Dealers continued to closely follow temperatures in Brazil.
* While forecasts for the coming 6-10 days feature cool temperatures across southern Brazil, "the frost threat remains low at this time," weather forecaster Radiant Solutions said in a note.
* Meanwhile, Colombia, the world's top supplier of washed arabica, is creating a special fund to subsidize coffee farmers when international prices fall below production costs.
* September robusta coffee
settled down $3, or 0.2%, at $1,424 per tonne. Trade volumes for the contract were light, at their lowest levels since Christmas Eve.
* Top robusta producer Vietnam exported 2.37 million 60-kg bags of coffee in June, customs data showed, down 2.6% from May.
SUGAR
* October raw sugar settled down 0.08 cent, or 0.7%, at 12.30 cents per lb.
* The contract fell 0.5% on the week, as ample global supplies continue to keep a lid on the market.
* Still, concerns about the potentially weak monsoon in major producer and top consumer India are limiting market losses, dealers said.
* August white sugar settled down $10.90, or 3.4%, to $306.80 a tonne after falling to an 11-month low of $305.70.
* The August contract
expires on Tuesday and its discount to the October contract <LSUQ9-V9> deepened to as much as $17.30 as traders rolled out of their positions.
* Dealers noted the potential for a large delivery next week, with possible origins including Guatemala, Mexico and Thailand.
COCOA
* September New York cocoa settled up $12, or 0.5%, at $2,503 per tonne after trading in light volumes.
* On the week, the contract rose 1.4%.
* September London cocoa
settled up 17 pounds, or 0.9%, at 1,871 pounds per tonne. The contract gained 1.7% on the week.
* Dealers were anticipating the release of data on second-quarter grindings, an indicator of demand, with European figures due on Tuesday and North American figures due on Thursday.
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