MARKETS-SOFTS (UPDATE 3)
* Robustas hit 2-1/4 year high on fund buying, technicals
* Sugar drops after investor selling triggers sells stops
* I. Coast cocoa reaches ports, export registrations stop (Recasts, updated prices; adds second byline, dateline, previously LONDON)
By Marcy Nicholson and Anna Yukhananov
NEW YORK/LONDON, Jan 31 (Reuters) - Arabica coffee futures reversed course and settled lower on Monday after soaring to a 13-1/2 year peak, while U.S. cocoa made its biggest monthly gains in nearly 1-1/2 years due to an ongoing export ban in top grower Ivory Coast.
Robusta coffee remained firm after touching its highest level in 2-1/4 years and raw sugar futures recouped their earlier losses to finish slightly higher after slumping on investor selling that set off technical stops.
Arabica coffee futures extended their rally after breaking out of a five-week sideways trend late last week and closed at their highest level in 13-1/2 years on Friday, but they ran out of buying power and a wave of profit-taking pushed the market lower.
"The COT (commitment of traders report) was quite positive showing funds reducing their position, the market still working higher. Some commercial buying as well on the COT," said Rodrigo Costa, vice president of Institutional Sales for Newedge USA.
"The $2.50 area seems to be a level where people are willing to take a little profit. That's the reason we came off quickly."
ICE March arabica futures eased 0.20 cent to finish at $2.4480 per lb, after hitting $2.5075, the highest level for the spot contract since June 1997.
Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) data late Friday showed the noncommercial net long position fell nearly 9 percent by Jan. 25 from the previous week.
London March robusta coffee settled up $56 at $2,185 a tonne after jumping to $2,204 per tonne in early trading, its highest since September 2008, after an injection of investor and fund buying, the trader said.
Lower production of high quality arabica beans, particularly from Colombia, continued to underpin markets.
In cocoa, futures resumed their rally after correcting lower in the previous session, driven up by political turmoil in Ivory Coast, which grows a third of the world's crop. Trade on ICE cocoa was heavy and dominated by position rolling by funds ahead of the spot contract's first notice day Feb. 14.
ICE benchmark March cocoa futures rose $75, or 2.3 percent, to settle at $3,352 per tonne, edging towards their one-year top of $3,420 a tonne after retreating on Friday. The spot contract closed the month up 10.4 percent, its biggest percentage gain since September 2009.
The move pushed the March contract to a discount against May for the first time since Jan. 20. Total volume exceeded 32,000 lots, more than double the 30-day moving average, preliminary Thomson Reuters data showed.
London May cocoa gained 32 pounds to finish at 2,175 pounds a tonne, pushing back towards their six-month high of 2,269 pounds a tonne from a week ago.
Cocoa continued to reach Ivory Coast's ports last week, but virtually none of it was registered for export as shippers observed a month-long ban called by presidential claimant Alassane Ouattara, exporters said.
"Everyone knows now that the ban is in place ... but it's still unknown how long it will last or how this will affect the continued supply chain within the country," a London-based trader said.
SUGAR TUMBLES ON INVESTOR SELLING
Raw sugar futures on ICE tumbled as much as 4 percent after investor selling from near 30-year highs triggered automatic sell stops below 33 cents a lb, basis March. Brokers also said some investors could be shifting from agricultural commodities into oil.
"We've gone up to almost 30-year highs, and so we could be looking at a temporary double top bringing in some profit taking," said Jonathan Kingsman, managing director of Lausanne-based sugar and ethanol consultancy Kingsman SA.
ICE March raw sugar inched up 0.03 cent to close at 33.97 cents per lb, rebounding 1.38 cents from the session low at 32.59 cents, as global supply tightness continued to underpin the market.
Sugar prices remained underpinned by uncertainty about the level of exports from India and the effect of a looming cyclone on Australia's key sugar region.
Brokers said key resistance was at the 30-year high of 34.77 cents a lb, touched on Dec. 29, and support at 29.50 cents a lb.
London March white sugar fell $2.80 to settle at $811.60 per tonne, drawing back from its record high of $835.80 a tonne reached on Dec. 29. * Prices as of 1922 GMT Product Last Change Pct Move End 2010 Ytd Pct ICE sugar 33.85 -0.09 -0.27 32.12 5.39 ICE coffee 247.20 0.40 +0.16 241.80 2.23 ICE cocoa 3365.00 90.00 +2.75 3052.00 10.26 Liffe sugar 812.00 -2.40 -0.29 777.50 4.44 Liffe coffee 2185.00 56.00 +2.63 2097.00 4.20 Liffe cocoa 2180.00 37.00 +1.73 2029.00 7.44 CRB index 341.72 6.28 +1.87 332.80 2.68 Crude oil 92.56 3.22 +3.60 91.38 1.29 Euro/dlr 1.37 0.01 +0.49 1.34 2.27 * ICE sugar and ICE coffee in cents per lb, ICE cocoa, Liffe sugar and Liffe coffee in dollars per tonne. Liffe cocoa in pounds per tonne. (Additional reporting by David Brough and Sarah McFarlane in London; editing by Jim Marshall)
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