LONDON: Arabica coffee futures on ICE fell on Friday, slipping back towards the prior session’s 5-1/2-month low, as prospects of a record crop in top producer Brazil weighed on prices.
COFFEE
Arabica coffee fell 0.7 percent to USD3.0615 per lb by 1225 GMT. Prices slumped to a 5-1/2-month low of USD3.0160 on Thursday. “In addition to external factors such as general market sentiment and the stronger US dollar, the price setbacks are likely due, among other things, to the prospect of a strong coffee crop in Brazil, which is expected to reach a record high this year,” Commerzbank said in a note.
The new crop of Brazilian coffee, for which harvests begin in a couple of months, is expected touch record volumes of 75.8 million 60-kg bags, according to a projection sent by local merchant EISA to clients on Thursday seen by Reuters.
Robusta coffee lost 0.6percent to USD3,800 a metric ton after slumping to a 5-1/2-month low of USD3,735 on Thursday.
COCOA
London cocoa fell 2.1percent to 3,001 pounds per ton, with the market on track for a weekly gain of 3 percent.
Dealers said the market had stabilised after a sustained decline, which saw prices fall to a two-year low of 2,728 pounds a week ago. However, concerns about weak demand and a build-up in stocks of unsold cocoa in both Ivory Coast and Ghana remain, limiting the scope of rebound in prices. New York cocoa lost 1.6percent to USD4,142 a ton.
SUGAR
Raw sugar fell 0.6percent to 14.19 cents per lb, slipping towards a 2-1/2-month low of 14.13 cents set on Monday. Sugar industry group UNICA is due to issue data later on Friday on sugar production in the Centre-South region covering the first half of January. White sugar was down 0.3percent at USD406.60 a ton.
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