Robusta coffee futures on ICE fell on Tuesday to touch their lowest in nearly 2-1/2 months, while London cocoa prices slipped as the British pound steadied.
COFFEE
March robusta coffee was down $10, or 0.7 percent, at $1,538 a tonne by 1144 GMT, after earlier falling to $1,535 a tonne, its lowest since early October.
Prices remained under pressure from expectations for ample supplies from top grower Vietnam, which is in the midst of harvesting a large crop. One European dealer estimated that about 60 percent of the crop has been harvested so far.
“We’ve got the main harvest looming over us,” the dealer said. “There has been a slight reduction in numbers but nothing substantial. It’s still a very decent-sized crop and the quality is very good.”
Market participants also pointed to a lack of buying interest by roasters, which was further weighing on the market.
“The industry are fairly well covered and they are not really looking to buy more right now,” the dealer said.
March arabica coffee fell 0.40 cents, or 0.4 percent, to $1.0475 per lb.
Speculators raised their bearish stance in coffee on ICE Futures US in the week to Dec. 4, US Commodity Futures Trading Commission data showed on Monday.
SUGAR
March raw sugar fell 0.01 cents, or 0.1 percent, to 12.71 cents per lb.
Market participants were awaiting cane crush data for the second half of November from Brazil’s UNICA, due out at 1200 GMT on Tuesday.
An S&P Platts survey of analysts forecast the crush at 14 million tonnes, with 31 percent of cane channelled to sugar. Production of the sweetener was seen at 515,000 tonnes.
March white sugar fell $0.50, or 0.2 percent, to $342.50 a tonne.
French sugar group Tereos plunged to a first-half loss of almost 100 million euros on Tuesday, hit by a steep fall in sugar prices. Its bond yields surged to all-time highs.
COCOA
March London cocoa fell 21 pounds, or 1.3 percent, to 1,617 pounds a tonne, weighed by a firmer British pound on Tuesday.
Prices rose to their highest since Nov. 19 in the prior session as sterling hit a 20-month low after Prime Minister Theresa May pulled a parliamentary vote on her Brexit deal with the European Union.
March New York cocoa was down $10, or 0.5 percent, at $2,196 a tonne.
