Arabica coffee rallies to three-week high while raw sugar hovers near 10-month peak

LONDON: Arabica coffee futures on ICE rallied to a three-week high on Tuesday amid concerns over falling ICE-certified stockpiles and the devastating earthquake in Colombia, the world’s second-largest arabica grower.

Raw sugar hovered near Monday’s 10-month peak.

Coffee

ICE arabica coffee rose 2.9% to $3.2285 per lb by 1238 GMT after hitting a three-week peak of $3.2755 per lb.

ICE-certified stocks were last at 242,673 60kg bags, their lowest since late 2023, exchange data showed.

“Certified stocks traditionally are the trade’s final backstop. Considering stocks at destination are historically low, the current certified (stock) levels aren’t a viable buffer, not even close,” GSX Commodities said in a note.

The commodities advisory and trading firm added, however, that the market is still on course for a wide surplus and that this should eventually limit gains, even if well-capitalised Brazilian farmers are not selling much for now.

In news, more than 160 people have been confirmed dead after a 7.4-magnitude earthquake, the most powerful in decades, tore through Colombia’s coffee-growing heartland early on Monday.

Robusta coffee rose 0.9% to $3,829 a metric ton.

Raw sugar equals 10-month high, cocoa and coffee fall

Sugar

Raw sugar was up 0.7% at 16.58 cents per lb, having earlier matched Monday’s 10-month peak of 16.63/lb.

Sugar has been supported by hot, dry weather in the European Union and a year-on-year decline in exports from Brazil, though there have been indications that recent output in top grower Brazil has been plentiful.

“The June (Brazil centre-south sugar crush) numbers were genuinely weak, but the season-to-date crush is still running ahead of last year, and the market broadly knows the last six weeks in the field have been productive,” said physical sugar broker Deepcore.

In news, shares of Indian sugar producers fell after Reuters reported that the government is considering restricting the use of sugarcane for ethanol production next season.

White sugar rose 0.1% to $506.70 a ton after hitting its highest since April 2025 at $511 a ton.
Cocoa

ICE London cocoa fell 2.9% to £4,166 a ton, sticking within the past week’s range.

* New York cocoa was down 3.2% at $5,740 a ton.