Recasts, includes comments and closing prices
NEW YORK/LONDON, Oct 26 (Reuters) – Robusta coffee futures on ICE rose more than 3% on Tuesday to a four-and-a-half year peak, boosted by ongoing disruptions in the flow of coffee from Vietnam, while arabica coffee prices were also higher.
COFFEE
* January robusta coffee LRCc2 closed 3.4% up at $2,270 a tonne, after rising to a peak of $2,278 – the highest level for the benchmark second position since February 2017.
* Dealers said the market was supported by a major shortage of shipping containers in Vietnam that was curbing exports, as well as by heavy rains in the Central Highlands that are negative at this point when harvesting approaches.
* Renewed outbreaks of COVID-19 in Vietnam, the world’s top robusta producer, could hinder cherry picking when the harvest gets underway next month.
* Dealers said the disruption to the flow of coffee from Vietnam was creating short-term supply tightness in the market, with front-month November commanding a large premium to January LRC-1=R.
* The front-month contract rose 5.3% on the first notice day for the contract.
* December arabica coffee KCc1settled up 5.55 cents, or 2.7%, at $2.081 per lb.
SUGAR
* March raw sugar SBc1 closed up 0.27 cent, or 1.4%, at 19.26 cents per lb.
* Dealers said the market derived some support from data showing sugar production in the key Centre-South region of Brazil during the first half of October was down a larger-than-expected 56% versus the same period a year earlier.
* A rise of 7% in gasoline prices in Brazil, effective Tuesday, also helped to boost the market, increasing the incentive to use cane in Brazil to produce biofuel ethanol rather than sugar.
* But production in the country is set to recover next year after ample October rains.
* December white sugar LSUc1 rose $5.90, or 1.2%, at $511.30 a tonne.
COCOA
* March London cocoa LCCc2 settled down 9 pounds, or 0.5%, to 1,768 pounds per tonne.
* Dealers said an improving outlook for the main crop in top grower Ivory Coast has helped put the market on the defensive.
* Weather forecasters Climate42 said prediction models favor minimal harmattan – the dry winds hitting Western Africa from November to February – over the cocoa regions in November, and average or milder than average in December, which is positive for the crops.
* December New York cocoa CCc1 lost $35, or 1.3%, to $2,581 a tonne.
(Reporting by Marcelo Teixeira and Nigel Hunt; editing by Barbara Lewis, Mark Porter and Maju Samuel)
(([email protected]; +1 332 220 8062; Reuters Messaging: [email protected] – https://twitter.com/tx_marcelo))
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