Arabica coffee futures on ICE rallied on Monday as dealers grew nervous about near-term supply tightness, with certified stocks remaining low overall even if they are edging up.
Raw sugar prices dipped, meanwhile, having clocked gains of 10% in October.
COFFEE
* ICE arabica coffee futures rose 2.2% to $2.9345 per lb by 1502 GMT.
* Despite benign weather in top grower Brazil improving prospects for next year's crop, arabica coffee lost only 1.2% in October.
* "Everything's looking good for the future, but in the meantime certified stocks are tight. Not as much has arrived as people were expecting," one dealer said.
* ICE stocks have been edging higher but they were last at 225,068 bags, not far off 27-year lows hit in mid-September KC-TOT-TOT, data showed.
* Also weighing on coffee was weakness in the Brazilian real, BRL= which encourages the country's mills, farmers and exporters to sell dollar-priced futures by raising returns in local currency terms.
* Robusta coffee rose 1.9% to $3,264 a metric ton, having hit its lowest since March 2024 on Monday at $3,140.
SUGAR
* Raw sugar dropped by 1.3% to 19.11 cents per lb.
* Sugar is consolidating after last month's strong gains, with mills in top grower Brazil using the opportunity to hedge or lock in profits by selling futures.
* ICE raw sugar speculators cut their net long position — essentially a bet on price rises — by 34,464 contracts to 128,384 in the week to October 27, industry data showed.
* Against that, more El Nino-linked excess rains are forecast for Brazil this week, slowing the harvest, reducing sugar content in the cane and increasing the chances of an early end to the harvest.
* White sugar fell 1.2% to $510.10 a ton.
COCOA
* London cocoa little changed at £4,231 per ton after touching a one-month low of £4,168.
* Cocoa arrivals at ports in top grower Ivory Coast in the week ending November 1 stood at 51,000 tons, exporters estimated, down 43.3% from the same week last year.
* New York cocoa was up 0.4% at $5,474 a ton, having hit a one-month low on Friday at $5,356.
* New York cocoa speculators increased their net short position — essentially a bet on price falls — by 514 contracts to 21,898 in the week to October 27.
(Reuters)
