Robusta coffee edges up on short-term supply tightness

LONDON: Robusta coffee futures were higher on Wednesday, edging up towards last week's 10-year high, as supply chain issues increased the appetite for exchange stocks.

Coffee

March robusta coffee rose 0.3% to $2,351 a tonne by 1206 GMT. The benchmark second position climbed to a 10-year high of $2,381 last week.

Dealers said supply chain issues, which included a shortage of container shipping capacity, had slowed the flow of robusta coffee from top producer Vietnam.

Vietnam's coffee exports in 2021 are expected to show a drop of 2.7% to 1.5 million tonnes, government data released on Wednesday showed.

Valid ICE robusta stocks stood at 99,020 tonnes, as of Tuesday, down from 106,920 tonnes a month earlier.

Dealers noted January's premium to March had been widening as traders holding short positions in the front month opted to cover rather than tender coffee. It was trading around $117 a tonne on Wednesday.

No coffee was delivered on the January contract's first tender day on Tuesday.

March arabica coffee rose 0.4% to $2.2645 per lb.

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Cocoa

March London cocoa rose 0.2% to 1,685 pounds a tonne.

Dealers said the weather in top producer Ivory Coast had been generally favourable for the development of the mid-crop with above average rain.

March New York cocoa was down 0.3% at $2,477 a tonne.

Sugar

March raw sugar was 0.1% higher at 18.98 cents per lb.

March white sugar rose 0.2% to $504.20 a tonne.