Arabica coffee prices weaken, frost evaluation in focus

LONDON: Arabica coffee futures eased on Tuesday, with prices retreating  from last week's seven-month high as signs that a weekend cold snap in Brazil may have done less damage to crops than some had feared.

COFFEE

* September arabica coffee was down 0.45 cents, or 0.4%, at $1.0595 per lb by 1046 GMT. The market touched a seven-month peak of $1.1565 on Friday.

* Brazil's Cooxupe, the world's largest coffee cooperative, said it will release a report on Wednesday with its initial evaluation of frosts reported in coffee regions over the weekend.

* The frost threat had sparked a significant short-covering rally.

* Speculators reduced their net short position in arabica coffee in the week to July 2 to its lowest since October 2017, US government data showed on Monday. {nL2N249101]

* Dealers said that market fundamentals remain bearish, with global consumption rising but not fast enough to absorb increased production in recent years, particularly in Brazil.

* "Although global consumption is continuing to rise, it's difficult to construe a bullish picture at this point," said Stefan Uhlenbrock, senior commodity analyst at IHS Markit's Agribusiness Intelligence. "The rise is still only small and the ample availability of coffee in the coming months is likely to keep bearish sentiment alive for the time being."

* September robusta coffee rose $3, or 0.2%, to $1,429 a tonne.

SUGAR

* October raw sugar was down 0.13 cents, or 1%, at 12.32 cents per lb.

* Dealers said the weekend frosts in Brazil appeared to have done little damage to cane crops.

* The market remained underpinned, however, by concerns that a weak monsoon could curb production in India.

* India's sugar output could fall 18% in 2019/20, hit by reduced cane planting after last year's drought and by weaker monsoon rains this year limiting crop growth, a senior industry official said.

* August white sugar fell $2.80, or 0.9%, to $318.70 a tonne.

COCOA

* September London cocoa fell 30 pounds, or 1.55%, to 1,905 pounds a tonne, retreating from Monday's one-year high of 1,939 pounds.

* Dealers continued to await clarity on a plan by top producers Ivory Coast and Ghana to introduce mechanisms such as a price floor to bolster the market.

* September New York cocoa fell $25, or 1%, to $2,552 a tonne.