LONDON: Coffee prices slumped to fresh 5-1/2-month lows on Thursday amid new indications of a record crop in top grower Brazil, while cocoa prices edged up off recent two-year lows.
COFFEE
Arabica coffee slipped 0.2percent to USD3.0800 per lb at 1330 GMT after hitting a fresh 5-1/2-month low of USD3.0600. Brazil’s coffee output for 2026 is forecast to grow 17.1percent year-on-year to a record 66.2 million bags, national crop agency Conab said. The agency forecast 2026 arabica production up by over a fifth to 44.1 million bags, adding that robusta output was expected to rise 6.4 percent year-on-year to 22.1 million bags.
Robusta coffee was little changed at USD3,761 a metric ton, its lowest since early-August. A trader in top robusta grower Vietnam said local prices were under pressure due to robust supplies in Brazil and good exports from Vietnam and Indonesia.
COCOA
London cocoa rose 2.3percent to 3,042 pounds per ton, edging above Friday’s two-year low of 2,728 pounds. Top grower Ivory Coast will double its purchases of surplus cocoa stocks to 20,000 tons per week starting this week due to concerns about declining quality, sources said.
A dealer noted reports that the world’s second-largest cocoa grower Ghana admitted international traders have switched to other origins due to the high price of Ghanaian cocoa. Cocoa farmgate prices in Ivory Coast and Ghana are set bi-annually by the countries’ cocoa market regulators, and are currently significantly higher than global prices, leading to a build-up of stocks in the two countries. * New York cocoa rose 2.9percent to USD4,201 a ton, holding above Friday’s two-year low of USD3,931.
SUGAR
Raw sugar fell 1.6percent to 14.21 cents per lb, slipping towards a 2-1/2-month low of 14.13 cents set on Monday. Tereos, one of the world’s largest sugar makers, sees sugar beet planting acreage in the EU, the world’s third-largest sugar producer, falling by 6percent to 7percent in 2026/27, the company told the Dubai Sugar Conference. Supply chain services firm Czarnikow told the conference it expects EU sugar production in 2026/27 to fall to 15.5 million metric tons from 17.1 million tons. White sugar retreated 1.4percent to USD411.80 a ton.
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