LONDON: Arabica coffee futures on ICE rallied on Monday as dealers grew nervous about near-term supply tightness, with certified stocks remaining low overall even if they are edging up. Raw sugar prices dipped, meanwhile, having clocked gains of 10 percent in October.
COFFEE
ICE arabica coffee futures rose 2.7 percent to USD2.95 per lb by 1222 GMT. Despite benign weather in top grower Brazil improving prospects for next year’s crop, arabica coffee lost only 1.2 percent in October.
“Everything’s looking good for the future, but in the meantime certified stocks are tight. Not as much has arrived as people were expecting,” one dealer said.
ICE stocks have been edging higher but they were last at 225,068 bags, not far off 27-year lows hit in mid-September, data showed. Also weighing on coffee was weakness in the Brazilian real, which encourages the country’s mills, farmers and exporters to sell dollar-priced futures by raising returns in local currency terms. Robusta coffee rose 2.6 percent to USD3,286 a metric ton, having hit its lowest since March 2024 on Monday at USD3,140.
SUGAR
Raw sugar dropped by 1 percent to 19.17 cents per lb. Sugar is consolidating after last month’s strong gains, with mills in top grower Brazil using the opportunity to hedge or lock in profits by selling futures.
ICE raw sugar speculators cut their net long position — essentially a bet on price rises — by 34,464 contracts to 128,384 in the week to October 27, industry data showed.
Against that, more El Nino-linked excess rains are forecast for Brazil this week, slowing the harvest, reducing sugar content in the cane and increasing the chances of an early end to the harvest. White sugar fell 0.8 percent to USD512.40 a ton.
COCOA
London cocoa rose 0.6 percent to £4,254 per ton after touching a one-month low of £4,168. Cocoa arrivals at ports in top grower Ivory Coast in the week ending November 1 stood at 51,000 tons, exporters estimated, down 43.3 percent from the same week last year. New York cocoa was up 1 percent at USD5,505 a ton, having hit a one-month low on Friday at USD5,356.
New York cocoa speculators increased their net short position — essentially a bet on price falls — by 514 contracts to 21,898 in the week to October 27.
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