Raw sugar consolidates below 5-month peak, arabica coffee dives

LONDON: Raw sugar futures on ICE closed slightly lower on Monday, with the market consolidating just below last week's five-month peak, underpinned by demand from Pakistan and China.

Arabica coffee closed sharply down after hitting a 4-1/2 month high last week.

SUGAR

October raw sugar settled down 0.12 cents, or 0.9%, at 12.55 cents per lb. The front month rose to a peak of 13.00 cents on Friday, its highest since March 6.

Dealers said the recent run-up had stalled but there could be another test of resistance around the 13-cent level in the near future.

"Sugar has had a few bullish things happen to it recently - China importing a bit more for stock, Pakistan tendering to import and problems with a beet disease in Europe. At the same time, funds have been buying steadily, pushing the price up," analyst Robin Shaw of broker Marex Spectron said in a note.

Supply chain services provider Czarnikow said China could buy 5 million tonnes of sugar in 2020, the highest import volume ever.

October white sugar settled down $1.70, or 0.5%, at $370.60 a tonne.

COFFEE

September arabica coffee settled down 2.85 cents, or 2.5%, at $1.126 per lb, falling for the third consecutive session since it touched a 4-1/2 month peak on Wednesday.

"There has been no change in the fundamentals," said a derivatives manager at a large Brazilian exporter, saying crops are in good shape in areas such as Brazil, Vietnam, Indonesia and Central America. "We continue to be bearish mid-term," he said.

There was talk in the market that some producers had to cover their sold positions amid the rally last week, after some margin calls, which only pushed the market higher.

November robusta coffee settled down $6, or 0.4%, at $1,357 a tonne.

COCOA

December New York cocoa settled down $35, or 1.4%, to $2,488 a tonne.

December London cocoa settled down 3 pounds, or 0.2%, to 1,712 pounds per tonne.

Rainfall was below average last week in most of Ivory Coast's main cocoa-growing regions, but soil moisture from earlier rains was supporting development for the first month of the October-to-March main crop.