Updates with closing prices, adds comments
NEW YORK/LONDON, Sept 17 (Reuters) – Robusta coffee futures on ICE rose to a four-year high on Friday as a pick-up in demand and disruptions to exports from Vietnam helped to tighten supplies, while sugar prices eased.
COFFEE
* November robusta coffee LRCc2 settled up $44, or 2.1%, at $2,151 a tonne, after setting a four-year high of $2,157 earlier in the session.
* Dealers said there had been a pick-up in demand for robusta beans in recent weeks, driven partly by the high cost of arabica coffee, while there were ongoing disruptions to the flow of supplies from top robusta producer Vietnam related to the COVID-19 pandemic and a shortage of container freight capacity.
* Disruptions to the flow of coffee from south-east Asia and the high cost of transporting the beans have boosted demand for exchange robusta stocks which stood at 131,270 tonnes, as of Thursday, down from 141,330 tonnes a month ago.
* December arabica coffee KCc2 fell 1.75 cent, or 0.9%, at $1.864 per lb.
* There is forecast for more rain over Brazil coffee areas, which is positive for the crops in the current stage.
* “Actors in the coffee market are looking for the weather forecast and are quite positive, expecting rains that might induce a flowering,” said exporter Comexim in a note.
SUGAR
* October raw sugar SBc1 settled down 0.31 cent, or 1.6%, at 19.18 cents per lb.
* Dealers said a stronger dollar and weaker energy prices had contributed to the setback in prices.
* There were comments in the market of fresh Indian raw sugar selling for January and February shipments. Indian sugar sales have usually capped sugar prices.
* December white sugar LSUc1 closed down $8.10, or 1.6%, at $504.80 a tonne.
COCOA
* December New York cocoa CCc1 settled up $8, or 0.3%, to $2,665 a tonne.
* Dealers said the market was underpinned by concerns that production may fall in Ghana during the upcoming 2021/22 season, which starts next month, helping to tighten global supplies.
* December London cocoa LCCc1 gained 8 pounds, or 0.4%, to 1,824 pounds per tonne.
(Reporting by Marcelo Teixeira and Nigel Hunt; Editing by David Goodman, Jane Merriman and Shailesh Kuber)
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