Arabica coffee heads back towards four-year peak

LONDON: Arabica coffee futures on ICE rose on Friday, heading back towards a four-year high hit a day earlier amid tightening supplies in top producer Brazil, improved demand and a stronger Brazilian real.

COFFEE

July arabica coffee rose 1% to $1.4445 per lb at 1045 GMT, after reaching its highest since February 2017 at $1.4765 on Thursday.

Arabica supplies are tightening as Brazil enters an off-year in its biennial crop cycle. There are also signs demand is recovering after results from coffee makers such as Starbucks , Keurig Dr Pepper and Tata Coffee.

Colombia's, the world's second-largest arabica producer, has discovered nine new, more aggressive variants of the fungus that causes coffee rust, a disease that can cause losses of between 30% and 80% in susceptible plant varieties.

Rust resistant plant varieties account for just over 84% of Colombia's coffee crops, with susceptible varieties making up the remaining 16%.

July robusta coffee rose 0.9% to $1,465 a tonne.

SUGAR

May raw sugar, which expires on Friday, fell 1.5%, to 16.83 cents per lb. The contract hit a two-month peak of 17.98 on Tuesday.

Traders said that while nervousness about the cane crop on top producer Brazil persists, output in key regions of India and Thailand is improving and the global market should be more or less balanced this year.

Brazil's center-south cane crush in the new season will be the lowest since 2012, according to commodities trader and supply chain services firm Czarnikow, as below-average rains hurt cane development.

Dealers do not expect a large delivery against the May raws expiry, citing supply tightness in Brazil as one possible reason.

August white sugar fell 1.7% to $445.30 a tonne.

COCOA

July New York cocoa fell 1.4% to $2,465 a tonne.

Cocoa has underperformed this year relative to coffee and sugar despite signs of improved demand, with the market expected to show a wide surplus this season.

July London cocoa fell 1.3% to 1,634 pounds per tonne.