LONDON: Raw sugar futures on ICE fell on Tuesday as the market continued to consolidate after hitting 16-month peaks last week, while arabica coffee hit fresh 5-week lows.
SUGAR
Raw sugar slipped 0.2percent to 18.04 cents per lb at 1206 GMT, having hit 18.77 cents last Wednesday.
“Physical activity staying this thin looks more like a market pausing to digest the rally than one confirming it,” said physical broker Deepcore. The broker said it is bearish near term at these price levels as current stocks are ample, adding that while the El Nino weather pattern remains a structural upside risk into 2027, it is “a slow-burn” factor.
Crudeoil prices hit multi-week highs near USD100 a barrel, limiting losses in sugar as the price movement tempted cane mills in Brazil and India to produce less sugar and more ethanol, a cane-based biofuel. White sugar fell 0.4percent at USD523.80 a metric ton.
COFFEE
Arabica coffee fell 1.3percent to USD2.9180 per lb, having hit a five-week low of USD2.8805. Coffee is under pressure from an expected bumper 2026/27 crop in top grower Brazil. Brazil exported 45percent more coffee in August than in the same month a year before. “The (bearish arabica) story seems to be picking up momentum now and is seemingly more believable,” said a dealer.
Robusta coffee rose 2.3percent to USD3.483 a metric ton, having hit a 2-1/2-month low last week.
COCOA
London cocoa fell 1.2percent to £4,333 per ton, some way off last Tuesday’s one-year high of £4,988. El Nino is a worry for cocoa. But those concerns have lessened somewhat as, so far, the weather pattern has not brought excess rains to West Africa. New York cocoa fell 4percent to USD5,927 a ton.