Adds comment, updates prices
LONDON, Oct 29 (Reuters) – Robusta coffee futures were marginally higher on Friday as the market consolidated below a 4-1/2 year high set earlier this week, while sugar and cocoa prices fell.
COFFEE
* January robusta coffee LRCc2 rose 0.05% to $2,178 a tonne by 1354 GMT. The benchmark second month set a 4-1/2 year high of $2,278 earlier this week.
* Dealers said the market’s failure to breach resistance around $2,279, a peak set in February 2017, had prompted a short-term setback, but fundamentals remained supportive with supplies tightened by a slowdown in exports from top robusta producer Vietnam.
* “To confirm the outlook for higher prices, futures need to break above the resistance at $2,200, which could set the scene for futures to take out $2,279,” broker Sucden Financial said in a note.
* Vietnam’s coffee exports in the first 10 months of this year are expected to show a 5.1% drop from a year earlier to 1.27 million tonnes, government data released on Friday showed.
* December arabica coffee KCc1 fell 0.3% to $1.9940 per lb.
SUGAR
* March raw sugar SBc1 fell 1.5% to 19.32 cents per lb but remained on track for a small weekly gain of 1.2%.
* Dealers said higher gasoline prices in Brazil had helped to support the market this week, potentially increasing the amount of cane used to produce ethanol rather than sugar.
* The rally in the energy sector has, however, lost momentum towards the end of the week, dragging sugar prices lower.
* December white sugar LSUc1 fell 1.3% to $509 a tonne.
COCOA
* March London cocoa LCCc2 fell 1.3% to 1,722 pounds a tonne after dipping to a low of 1,719 pounds – the weakest level for the benchmark second month since Aug. 9.
* Dealers said the market was weighed by the prospect of a large crop this year in top producer Ivory Coast and uncertainty about whether a recent pick-up in demand will be sustained.
* December New York cocoa CCc1 fell 0.9% to $2,549 a tonne.
(Reporting by Nigel Hunt Editing by David Holmes and Frances Kerry)
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