US arabica coffee finished down a shade on Thursday in rangebound dealings pressured mildly by some origin and speculative selling amid light volume, traders said. "We're into the delivery period, and just with a lack of a freeze and the Brazilian harvest continuing here, the upside will be limited," one broker said.
New York Board of Trade (NYBOT) open-outcry July coffee slipped 0.45 cent at $1.1455 a lb., while benchmark September futures lost 0.70 cent to finish at $1.1670 a lb., in narrow dealings from $1.1620 to $1.1765.
The rest closed in a range from 0.70 to 0.85 cent lower. On the ICE New York Board of Trade (NYBoT) electronic platform at 1:49 pm EDT (1749 GMT), September coffee was down 0.65 cent at $1.1675 a lb.
In London, robusta coffee futures returned to its recent nine-year peak but failed to break new ground, with tight supplies and rising demand remaining the key driving forces, dealers said. The Liffe September coffee finished up $11 at $1,929, after trading from $1,903 to $1,940. New York Board of Trade (NYBOT) estimated 4,512 lots traded in New York open-outcry with traders noting about 12,300 contracts traded on the ICE screen by 1:25 pm EDT.
This compares to the 12,171 lots officially tallied in floor trade on Wednesday, when 19,251 contracts traded onn the ICE electronic platform. As of June 20, open interest fell 738 lots to 153,060 contracts. Meanwhile, No 1 coffee grower Brazil will continue to see mostly dry conditions and near to above-normal temperatures through on Tuesday, DTN Meteorlogix said.