LONDON: Raw sugar futures on ICE slipped further on Wednesday as bearish chart signals and an uptick in producer selling weighed, while robusta coffee rebounded and cocoa extended losses.
SUGAR
October raw sugar was down 0.18 cent, or 1.21 percent, at 14.70 cents per lb by 1122 GMT.
Prices fell from two-month highs in the previous session after technical resistance, a weakening in the energy complex and a wave of producer selling sapped a speculative short-covering rally.
Dealers said the weakness persisted on Wednesday, after the negative close reinforced bearish chart signals and affirmed the downward momentum.
"I think there was a bit of a bubble there, with people expecting the market to break out and get some of these shorts to panic and stampede," said one dealer. "But it never quite happened. We haven't for the moment dislodged the big short."
A firmer dollar and continued producer selling also added pressure.
October white sugar also fell $2.40, or 0.60 percent, to $396.90 a tonne, with dealers pointing to waning hopes that India will allow more duty-free imports this season.
"The cash market remains weak and the whites have no desire to move higher," the dealer noted.
COFFEE
September arabica coffee consolidated, climbing 0.15 cents, or 0.11 percent, at $1.38 per lb.
Prices fell from a 3-1/2 month peak in the previous session, after hitting technical resistance at the $1.40 mark.
September robusta coffee gained $22, or 1.04 percent, to $2,132 per tonne, recovering after slipping in tandem with arabica a day earlier.
Dealers said trading remained rangebound and the market would need to break key resistance levels around the 10-day moving average to pave the way for further gains.
Brazil exported 1.6 million 60-kg bags of coffee in July, compared to 1.91 million bags in the previous month and 1.74 million bags a year ago, the country's trade ministry said on Tuesday.
COCOA
September London cocoa fell 7 pounds, or 0.45 percent, to 1,554 pounds a tonne.
September New York cocoa was down $5 or 0.25 percent, at $2,018 a tonne.
Prices tumbled from a four-month high in the previous session, closing 1.8 percent lower.
Ivory Coast's prime minister has decided to sack the head of the Coffee and Cocoa Council (CCC) owing to a crisis over cocoa contract defaults and other management issues, sources said on Tuesday.
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