Liffe May robusta coffee climbs $29 to $2,254 a tonne on Wednesday, below its 2-1/4-year high of $2,287. Market infected by arabica's surge to a fresh 13-1/2-year high on the back of spread dealing, fund buying and a lack of origin selling. Liffe March white sugarloses $7.20 to close at $761.50 per tonne, falling further from last week's record high of $857.00, on a lack of physical demand for raw sugar.
Liffe May cocoa closes 11 pounds higher at 2,134 pounds a tonne, consolidating after sharp losses last week, as concerns over the political standoff in top grower Ivory Coast underpin prices. "The differentials haven't backed off one iota," Jack Scoville, an analyst for brokers The Price Group, said when asked about the strength of the cash coffee market which he believes is spilling over into coffee bean futures. Supplies are scanty for quality beans and with top producer Brazil looking at an off-year in output next season, Scoville believes the situation can only get tighter.
"There's very little selling and funds are buying," said Rodrigo Costa, vice-president of institutional sales for Newedge USA in New York. Sugar futures, which tumbled on Tuesday after China's central bank increased its interest rates and possibly slow domestic consumption, were mixed with late short-covering boosting raws going into the close of action.