ICE arabica coffee futures slipped to the lowest level in more than four years on Wednesday, weighed down by a huge harvest under way in top grower Brazil and follow-through selling after big losses in the previous session. ICE cocoa futures edged up as commercial selling slowed the momentum of a speculator-driven rally, and raw sugar prices gained in technically driven dealings.
December arabica coffee futures on ICE closed down 0.05 cent, or 0.04 percent, at $1.1490 per lb. The second month hit $1.1395 per lb, the weakest level since July 2009, slipping below the previous session’s low. Chart-based signals sent coffee tumbling on Tuesday. «We’ve got a continuation of yesterday’s selling. September is when we see the harvest pressure is at its greatest, and it’s before high-demand season in the western hemisphere,» said James Cordier, founder and president of Liberty Trading Group in Tampa, Florida.
Expectations of favourable weather have added to the pressure of a huge off-year crop in Brazil, where the harvest is under way. Rains over Brazil’s center-south, the world’s biggest sugarcane- and coffee-producing region, will linger at least until Wednesday, favouring early development of next year’s crops but halting the tail end of this season’s cane crush, weather forecaster Somar said.
Despite leaf-rust disease in Central America, large crops in Brazil and Colombia, the biggest washed arabica producer, highlighted a global abundance of arabica that has weighed on the futures market for most of 2013. Liffe November robusta coffee closed down $1, or 0.06 percent, at $1,680 a tonne, consolidating after hitting a three-year low of $1,660 on Tuesday.
Source: brecorder.com/agriculture-a-allied/183/1232441/
Arabica coffee falls
