Raw sugar, arabica coffee consolidate after setbacks

• December white sugar was up $0.30, or 0.1pc, at $339.90 a tonne.
• March raw sugar was up 0.01 cent, or 0.1pc, at 12.53 cents per lb by 1100 GMT.

LONDON: Raw sugar futures and arabica coffee futures were marginally higher on Tuesday with both markets consolidating after suffering setbacks in the prior session.

SUGAR

March raw sugar was up 0.01 cent, or 0.1pc, at 12.53 cents per lb by 1100 GMT.

The front month fell by 1.7pc on Monday.

Dealers said sugar continued to derive background support from the prospect of a global deficit in the 2019/20 season but the market had temporarily lost upward momentum partly due to producer and trade selling.

"We feel the market is consolidating in thin conditions and foresee a rough 12.50/13.00 cent range being established in the short term," Sucden Financial senior trader Nick Penney said in a market note.

December white sugar was up $0.30, or 0.1pc, at $339.90 a tonne.

COFFEE

December arabica coffee rose 0.2 cents, or 0.2pc, to 97.20 cents per lb.

The market regained some ground after finding support just above the prior session's four-week low of 96.60 cents.

A break below 96.15 cents could cause a fall into a range of 94.95-95.20 cents, Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao said in a report on Tuesday.

Renewed weakness in Brazil's real currency helped to drive prices down on Monday while the market continued to be weighed by concerns about excess supplies.

A weaker real can encourage producer selling by boosting dollar-denominated prices in local currency terms.

November robusta coffee was up $10, or 0.8pc, at $1,263 a tonne.

COCOA

December New York cocoa was down $24, or 1.0pc, at $2,398 a tonne, extending the market's retreat after a strong advance in prices in September and early October.

Dealers said prospects for the main crop in top grower Ivory Coast remained generally favourable despite some quality concerns following rains.

March London cocoa was up 1 pound, or 0.05pc, at 1,872 pounds a tonne, underpinned by the weakness of sterling.

Sterling fell to a three-week low against the euro on Tuesday as concerns lingered that sizeable differences between Britain and the European Union remained with less than a month left to strike a Brexit withdrawal deal before an Oct. 31 deadline.