Arabica coffee steadies near recent highs, London cocoa gains

LONDON: Arabica coffee futures on ICE steadied on Wednesday, reversing recent losses as the market consolidates near a one-year top amid tightening supplies, while London cocoa hit a three-month peak.

COFFEE

May arabica coffee rose 0.5% to $1.3445 per lb at 1206 GMT, having fallen for the prior three sessions.

Arabica is consolidating after hitting a one-year high last week, underpinned by the prospect of a smaller crop in top producer Brazil this year.

Coffee exports fell by 3.4% in January 2021 versus a year ago, but exports in the first four months of the 2020/21 season (October-September) rose 3.7%, the International Coffee Organisation (ICO) said.

May robusta coffee rose 0.4% to $1,456 a tonne.

COCOA

May London cocoa rose 0.7% to 1,813 pounds per tonne, having hit a three-month high earlier.

Cocoa has under-performed other commodities this year because of surplus market supplies, though it has staged a small recovery in recent weeks on hopes demand will recover as countries gain some control over the coronavirus pandemic.

Dealers said speculators remain in buying mode for now, and it would be unwise to bet against them near term.

Ivory Coast started selling cocoa contracts for the 2021/22 season two weeks ago, six months later than usual, because it needed to clear stocks from the previous harvest, sources from the industry regulator and exporters said.

May New York cocoa fell 0.6% to $2,628 a tonne.

SUGAR

May raw sugar fell 0.5% to 16.35 cents per lb.

May white sugar fell 0.3% to $464.20 a tonne.

Indian sugar mills' output rose by a fifth to 23.38 million tonnes in the first five months of the 2020/21 marketing year from a year earlier, while a few mills closed operations ahead of normal schedule, a trade body said.