Raw sugar extends retreat, arabica coffee also lower

LONDON: Raw sugar futures dipped on Monday as the market extended a retreat from a near three-week high set late last week while arabica coffee prices also fell.

SUGAR

May raw sugar fell 0.24 cent, or 1.9 percent, to 12.52 cents per lb by 1338 GMT. The front month peaked at 12.84 cents on Friday, its highest since March 18.

Dealers said the upside was capped by producer selling above 12.80 cents while data showing a larger than expected cut in the speculative net short position was also mildly bearish.

Speculators reduced their net short position in raw sugar on ICE Futures U.S. in the week to April 2, U.S. government data showed on Friday.

"The reduction of the net short speculative position has taken away some of the upward pressure off the market," Sucden Financial senior trader Nick Penney said.

The market was underpinned, however, by the strength of prices in the European Union.

Spot sugar prices in the European Union are recovering from last year's record lows as world prices languish, prompting a pick-up in imports to one of the few global regions where output is slumping.

"EU prices have surged upwards again, which seems to confirm that EU processors really are sold out. That could imply either stocks have been overestimated or consumption has been underestimated," broker Marex Spectron said in a report.

May white sugar was down $4.40, or 1.3 percent, at $325.90 a tonne.

COFFEE

May arabica coffee was down 1.05 cents, or 1.1 percent, at 92.15 cents per lb. The front month slumped to a 13-year low of 91.25 cents last week.

Dealers said the prospect that another large crop in top producer Brazil will be harvested in the coming weeks continued to weigh on the market.

May robusta coffee was down $16, or 1.1 percent, at $1,404 a tonne.

COCOA

May London cocoa fell 16 pounds, or 0.9 percent, to 1,794 pounds a tonne.

Cocoa arrivals at ports in top grower Ivory Coast reached 1.748 million tonnes between Oct. 1 and April 1, exporters estimated, up about 15 percent from 1.521 million tonnes in the same period last season.

May New York cocoa was up $3, or 0.1 percent, at $2,416 a tonne.