Arabica coffee hits new four-year high

  • July arabica coffee rose 2.3% to $1.5385 per lb
  • July raw sugar fell 1.5% to 16.78 cents per lb, having hit a one-month low of 16.54 cents on Monday.
26 May, 2021

LONDON: Arabica coffee hit a new four year high on Wednesday amid worries over shrinking supplies in top producer Brazil, while raw sugar futures fell, heading back towards a one month low.

COFFEE

July arabica coffee rose 2.3% to $1.5385 per lb at 1333 GMT, having hit a four-year high of $1.5675 earlier in the session.

Brazilian coffee trader Comexim said not much rainfall is forecast for the next seven days in Brazil's coffee growing regions, exacerbating fears over a looming deficit.

Coffee farmers in Brazil are trying to renegotiate their sales contracts with exporters and traders at higher prices, sparking industry fear over widespread defaults.

Colombia, the world's No. 2 arabica producer, has reached "pre-agreements" with major unions and student groups that the government hopes will end a month of widespread protests that are disrupting exports.

July robusta coffee rose 0.5% to $1,495 a tonne.

SUGAR

July raw sugar fell 1.5% to 16.78 cents per lb, having hit a one-month low of 16.54 cents on Monday.

Dealers said raw sugar remains relatively well supplied and there is little reason for prices to rally significantly. They added the past two weeks of rains in Brazil's sugar growing areas should relieve some of the soil dryness.

Brazil's centre south sugar production fell 4.4% in first half of May to 2.38 million tonnes, industry group Unica said.

France's second-largest sugar maker Cristal Union should further benefit from high sugar prices and an expected rebound in output in 2021/22 after recording a net profit in the last financial year.

The EU's crop monitoring unit has slightly lowered its estimate of the sugar beet crop yield to 75.5 t/ha from 75.6 t/ha.

August white sugar fell 1.4% to $449.50 a tonne.

COCOA

September London cocoa rose 0.8% to 1,637 pounds per tonne..

September New York cocoa rose 1.2% to $2,408 a tonne.

Cocoa arrivals at ports in top grower Ivory Coast reached 1.963 million tonnes between Oct 1 and May 23, exporters estimated, up 7.9% over the previous season.

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