Raw sugar, arabica coffee retreat from multi-month peaks

Raw sugar and arabica coffee futures on ICE fell from multi-month highs on Friday, as operations in top grower Brazil gradually returned to normal following disruptions caused by nationwide trucker protests. July raw sugar settled down 0.27 cent, or 2.1 percent, at 12.52 cents per lb after rising to 12.97 cents, the highest for the front month since March 9.
For the week, it closed up 0.5 percent.
Selling came on the heels of a two-week rally that lifted prices to technically overbought levels on the 14-day relative strength index, in part due to the protests in Brazil.
The harvest in Center-South Brazil now appeared to be back in full flow while mills were also beginning to resume operations, traders said.
The weakness of Brazil's currency also threatened to trigger a pick-up in producer selling, improving dollar-denominated prices in local currency terms and pressuring prices, traders said.
August white sugar settled down $1.60, or 0.5 percent, at $353 per tonne, after setting a two-month peak of $360.
July arabica coffee settled down 0.95 cent, or 0.8 percent, at $1.2275 per lb, after reaching the highest level for the front month since January 30 at $1.2495.
The weak Brazilian real and improved flow of supplies in the world's top producer also weighed on prices, traders said.
Spot arabica futures closed higher for the second straight week, in part due to the truck drivers' protests in Brazil, which are expected to reduce the country's May coffee exports by 900,000 60-kg bags.
Dealers said the crop outlook in Brazil remained generally favorable with a record harvest anticipated.
July robusta coffee settled down $2, or 0.1 percent, at $1,750 per tonne.
July New York cocoa settled up $4, or 0.2 percent, at $2,458 per tonne, after dipping to a three-month low for the front month of $2,413.
The spot contract closed the week down 3.8 percent, its third straight week lower.
Total open interest jumped by 4,532 lots to a record 310,808 lots on Thursday when the spot contract tumbled 3 percent, ICE data showed.
July London cocoa settled down 13 pounds, or 0.7 percent, at 1,760 pounds per tonne, after falling to the weakest level since April 16 at 1,739 pounds.