Robusta coffee slips on Vietnam selling, cocoa extends rebound

Robusta coffee futures on ICE fell on Friday, pressured by physical selling in top producer Vietnam, while cocoa rebounded further above multiyear lows on chart-based buying and sugar prices eased. May robusta settled down $21, or 0.95 percent, at $2,194 per tonne, after a sharp rally lifted prices 3.1 percent in the previous session.
Dealers said Thursday's gains had triggered origin selling in Vietnam as producers sought to lock in attractive prices. "That has put a temporary cap on the market," one dealer said. "Underlying fundamentals are still positive, but short term, I think it will have to eat through a little bit of selling."
May arabica settled down 1.05 cents, or 0.7 percent, at $1.433 per lb.
May New York cocoa settled up $27, or 1.4 percent, at $1,955 per tonne.
Total New York cocoa open interest rose to a record 286,094 lots on Thursday, climbing for the eighth straight session, ICE data showed.
Prices extended the prior session's gains, when futures tapped a 9-1/2-year low before rallying to close higher, creating a technical buy signal, traders said.
The market, however, has not yet appeared to have found a bottom, traders said.
Cocoa fundamentals remained bearish with plentiful supplies from top grower Ivory Coast still in focus.
May London cocoa settled up 28 pounds, or 1.8 percent, at 1,605 pounds per tonne.
May raw sugar settled down 0.14 cent, or 0.7 percent, at 19.52 cents per lb.
Dealers said the focus was on India, where there are signs that the world's top consumer will import less sugar than expected to offset tightening supplies and rising domestic prices.
Some 107 sugar mills were still crushing cane at the end of February in Uttar Pradesh, a major producing region, with output up 17 percent, the Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA) said on Thursday.
May white sugar settled down $1.70, or 0.3 percent, at $541.90 per tonne.
The premium for August white sugar over the July raws contract rose above $117, its highest since 2013.
"The premium is reflecting the increasing belief that whites will have to come into India at one point," said one dealer.