Arabica coffee prices climb as exchange stocks fall

LONDON: Arabica coffee futures on ICE rose sharply on Tuesday, boosted by a further decline in exchange stocks, while raw sugar was dragged down by a firmer dollar and weaker crude oil prices.

Coffee

May arabica coffee was up 2.4% at $2.4810 per lb at 1543 GMT as the market continued to derive support from falling exchange stocks.

Certified ICE arabica stocks stood at 1.08 million bags, as of Feb. 7, down sharply from 1.54 million bags at the end of 2021.

"The narrative is still declining stocks and doubt about how many years deficit we are confronting. With COVID moving into the endemic phase and palpable demand building, it's really hard to believe that we have seen the highs," Cardiff Coffee Trading said in a market update.

May robusta coffee rose 0.4% to $2,227 a tonne, deriving support from the rally in arabica prices.

Traders are planning to deliver thousands of tonnes of robusta coffee from Asia to the ICE exchange in Europe for the first time in more than three years - a move likely to take the heat out of benchmark prices that are near 10-year peaks.

Arabica coffee regains ground, raw sugar weakens

Sugar

March raw sugar fell 0.3% to 18 cents per lb.

Dealers said weaker energy prices could lead to more use of cane to produce sugar rather than biofuel ethanol.

Raw sugar is forecast to end this year with an annual loss of nearly 6%, with the global market set to shift into a surplus in the 2022/23 season, a Reuters poll showed.

March white sugar, which expires on Friday, rose 0.4% to $494.70 a tonne but May was little changed at $481.80.

News that the Philippines was seeking to import 200,000 tonnes of white sugar helped to underpin prices.

Cocoa

May New York cocoa rose 0.9% to $2,710 a tonne.

Ghana's graded and sealed (G&S) cocoa arrivals reached 383,000 tonnes by Jan. 27 since the start of this year's harvest on Oct. 1, down 44% from 681,000 tonnes in same period of the previous season, figures from marketing board COCOBOD showed on Tuesday.

May London cocoa rose 0.2% to 1,798 pounds a tonne.