Raw sugar slumps to three-month low, coffee also down

LONDON: Raw sugar futures on ICE slid to a three-month low on Monday as funds continued to liquidate long positions established during a run-up in prices earlier this year, while coffee also fell.

SUGAR

May raw sugar fell by 0.12 cents, or 0.8%, to 15.07 cents per lb at 1217 GMT after slipping to a three-month low of 14.97 cents.

Dealers said price charts had become more bearish after recent weakness, while concern about nearby supply tightness had eased partly due to a stronger-than-expected finish to the harvest in key exporter Thailand.

Funds cut their bullish bets on raw sugar in the week to March 23, data from the US Commodity Trading Commission showed on Friday.

"The funds, who started the year in a very ebullient mood (on sugar), seem to be throwing in the towel as prices fall through key support levels," analyst Green Pool said in a weekly market update.

Weak demand in Europe linked to a third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic also weighed on sentiment.

May white sugar fell by $3.90, or 0.9%, to $433.20 a tonne.

COFFEE

May arabica coffee fell by 1.70 cents, or 1.3%, to $1.2680 per lb.

Dealers noted funds were also scaling back long positions in arabica coffee.

May robusta coffee fell by $17, or 2.4%, to $1,398 a tonne.

Vietnam coffee exports in the first three months of the year are estimated to have fallen 17% from a year earlier to 428,000 tonnes, the General Statistics Office said on Monday.

COCOA

May New York cocoa rose by $17, or 0.7%, to $2,475 a tonne.

Cocoa arrivals at ports in top grower Ivory Coast reached 1.643 million tonnes between Oct. 1 and March 28, exporters estimated on Monday, down 0.1% from 1.645 million tonnes over the same period last season.

May London cocoa rose by 2 pounds, or 0.1%, to 1,740 pounds a tonne.