ICE raw sugar pared gains on Tuesday after hitting a two-month high as traders sold into a rally ahead of the front-month contract’s expiry, and arabica coffee rose on lower production and export forecasts from top grower Brazil and weather worries. Cocoa futures fell amid expectations of strong supplies in West Africa. Raw sugar on ICE Futures US rallied over 3 percent on an increasingly bullish outlook for tighter supplies in the crop year that begins on October 1 and after breaking above a key trend-line around 12.55 cents.
The most-active ICE March 2016 raw sugar contract finished up 0.08 cent, or 0.6 percent, at 12.46 cents per lb after hitting a two-month high of 12.76 cents. “We saw a technical break-out that generated some good (speculator) buying, and that uncovered heavy commercial selling,” said James Cassidy, global head of sugar at Societe Generale in New York. The front-month ICE October contract ended up 0.01 cent, or 0.09 percent, at 11.76 cents a lb after leaping to July highs above 12 cents.
The front-month’s discount to the second-month narrowed to its smallest in about a year ahead of the October expiry on Wednesday. ICE December white sugar settled up $1.80, or 0.5 percent, at $361.60 per tonne. In coffee, the ICE December arabica contract closed up 1.7 cents, or 1.4 percent, at $1.2085 per lb after jumping about 3 percent. Brazil’s agriculture ministry lowered its 2015 crop forecast to 42.15 million bags, down 5 percent. Separately, Brazil’s coffee exporter association lowered its outlook to 34.5 million bags in 2015 versus a previous forecast of 35 million bags.
November robusta coffee on ICE finished up $28, or 1.8 percent, at $1,576 a tonne. London December cocoa lost 31 pounds, or 1.4 percent, to settle at 2,171 pounds, dropping further from Friday’s 4-1/2 year peak of 2,256 pounds. New York December cocoa finished down $60, or 2.5 percent, at $3,182 per tonne.
