Robusta coffee prices edge up, sugar and cocoa fall

LONDON: Robusta coffee futures rose on Friday, creeping up towards a 4-1/2 year high set earlier this week, while sugar and cocoa prices fell.

Coffee

January robusta coffee rose 0.6% to $2,190 a tonne by 1102 GMT. The benchmark second position set a 4-1/2 year high of $2,278 earlier this week.

Dealers said the market's failure to breach resistance around $2,279, a peak set in February 2017, had prompted a short-term setback, but fundamentals remained supportive with supplies tightened by a slowdown in exports from top robusta producer Vietnam.

"To confirm the outlook for higher prices, futures need to break above the resistance at $2,200, which could set the scene for futures to take out $2,279," broker Sucden Financial said in a note.

Vietnam's coffee exports in the first 10 months of this year are expected to show a 5.1% drop from a year earlier to 1.27 million tonnes, government data released on Friday showed.

High freight costs and a shortage of container shipping capacity have helped slow exports and there are concerns they may disrupt the flow of new crop beans when the harvest gets underway next month.

December arabica coffee rose 0.55% to $2.0105 per lb.

Robusta coffee hits 4-1/2 year high, arabica also up

Sugar

March raw sugar fell 0.15% to 19.59 cents per lb but remained on track for a weekly gain of nearly 3%.

Dealers said the market had been boosted this week by a diminished outlook for this year's sugar production in Centre-South Brazil, though recent rains appear to have improved the outlook for next year's cane crop.

December white sugar fell 0.02% to $515.50 a tonne.

Cocoa

March London cocoa fell 0.9% to 1,729 pounds a tonne, the weakest level for the benchmark second month since Aug. 10.

Dealers said the market was weighed by the prospect of a large crop this year in top producer Ivory Coast and uncertainty about whether a recent pick-up in demand will be sustained.

December New York cocoa fell 0.8% to $2,550 a tonne.