LONDON: Robusta coffee futures fell on Wednesday, slipping towards the previous session’s 16-month low on ample supplies, while sugar and cocoa prices also weakened slightly.
Coffee
Robusta coffee lost 0.8% to $3,264 a metric ton by 1151 GMT. Prices touched a 16-month low of $3,166 on Tuesday.
Dealers said the market remains well supplied, buoyed by newly harvested crops from Brazil and Indonesia, while the potential for a larger crop in top robusta producer Vietnam also weighed on sentiment.
A Vietnam coffee crop tour projected a 7% increase in the next crop.
The market also remained focused on whether the U.S. would go ahead with the planned 50% tariff on imports on Brazilian coffee from August 1.
They noted the flow of Brazilian conilon (robusta) coffee to Europe remained limited at the moment but could pick up if U.S. tariffs are imposed.
Arabica coffee was up 0.2% at $2.9705 per lb.
Robusta coffee recovers after hitting 16-month lows, cocoa also gains ground
Sugar
Raw sugar lost 0.9% to 16.15 cents per lb.
Dealers said the market remained on the defensive, partly owing to improved prospects in India, where rains have boosted planting, and an expected large crop next season could lead to exports from the world’s second-biggest producer.
White sugar fell 0.8% to $468.50 a ton.
Cocoa
London cocoa eased by 0.1% to 5,248 pounds a ton.
Exports of cocoa beans and semi-finished products at ports in top grower Ivory Coast since the start of the season on October 1 had reached 1.508 million tons by June 30, up 1.3% from 1.489 million tons in the same period last season, Coffee and Cocoa Council (CCC) data showed on Wednesday.
New York cocoa fell 0.2% to $8,132 a ton.