LONDON, Dec 30 (Reuters) – Robusta coffee futures on ICE were hovering just below a recent 10-year high on Thursday while raw sugar prices eased, weighed down partly by a firmer dollar and weaker crude oil.
COFFEE
* March robusta coffee LRCc2 fell a marginal 0.04% to $2,363 a tonne by 1115 GMT. The benchmark second position climbed to a 10-year high of $2,381 last week.
* Dealers said supply chain issues had disrupted shipments from top robusta producer Vietnam this year with exports expected to show a drop of 2.7%.
* “High shipping cost and a shortage of containers have hampered coffee shipments from Vietnam this year,” a trader based in Ho Chi Minh City said.
* Dealers noted that January’s premium to March LRC-1=R had been widening as traders holding short positions in the front month opted to cover rather than tender coffee. It was trading around $122 a tonne on Thursday.
* Only one lot, of Brazilian conillon coffee, had been tendered against the January contract as of Dec. 29.
* March arabica coffee KCc1 fell 0.7% to $2.2730 per lb.
SUGAR
* March raw sugar SBc1 was 0.8% lower at 18.94 cents per lb.
* Dealers said the market was weighed down partly by weakness in crude oil. Lower energy prices can lead to more use of cane to produce sugar rather than biofuel ethanol. O/R
* March white sugar LSUc1 fell 0.7% to $497.50 a tonne.
COCOA
* March London cocoa LCCc1 fell 0.3% to 1,694 pounds a tonne.
* March New York cocoa CCc1 was down 0.4% at $2,505 a tonne.
(Reporting by Nigel Hunt; Editing by David Clarke)
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