Thursday, May 5, 2011

Arabica coffee, sugar fall in commods sell-off

* Egypt's SIIC cancels tender for 200,000 tonnes raw sugar

* Coffee price outlook seen bullish - trade

* Ivorian cocoa exports expected to pick up

(Adds trade comment, bylines, updates prices)

By Sarah McFarlane and David Brough

LONDON, May 4 (Reuters) - ICE arabica coffee futures extended losses in a commodities sell-off on Wednesday but remained within sight of the prior session's 34-year peak, while sugar fell, weighed by an ample supply outlook.

Cocoa futures consolidated, with upside potential limited by easing political tensions in top grower Ivory Coast and prospects for a pick-up of cocoa exports later this week.

The Reuters-Jefferies CRB index, a global benchmark for commodities, fell almost 1 percent for a second day in a row on Wednesday, after a sell-off in oil and most raw materials.

In coffee, arabica futures fell below Tuesday's 34-year high of $3.0890 a lb, buoyed by tight supplies and strong demand.

"The outlook for prices is still very bullish, with a potential short-term dip as we come into the Brazilian harvest," a London-based fund analyst said.

Several lower-than-average crops from Colombia, a key producer of mild washed arabicas, have driven arabica futures to more than double in price over the past year.

ICE July arabica coffee was down 6.65 cent or 2.2 percent to $2.9950 per lb at 1438 GMT. The contract peaked at $3.0890 on Tuesday, a 34-year high.

Liffe July robustas were down $38 or 1.5 percent at $2,573 a tonne in moderate volume of 5,272 lots, having earlier hit a contract high of $2,624.

World coffee exports rose 15.4 percent in the first half of 2010-11 from the same period a year earlier, the International Coffee Organization said on Wednesday.

ICO data showed Vietnam, the world's top robusta coffee producer, exported 2.3 million bags in March, up from 1.4 million the previous month.

Sugar futures fell in the commodities sell-off, weighed by expectations of ample supplies from Brazil and Thailand, the possibility that India could authorise more unrestricted exports of the sweetener, and a cancelled Egyptian buying tender.

Egypt's state-owned Sugar and Integrated Industries Company (SIIC) has cancelled a tender to buy 200,000 tonnes of raw sugar and is expected to hold another tender soon, European trade sources said on Wednesday.

Tunisia tendered this week to buy two cargoes of white sugar for June and July arrivals, European trade sources said on Wednesday.

DOWNSIDE PRICE RISK

Some traders said ICE front-month July raw sugar futures could soon test psychological support at 20 cents a lb.

"The prospects for the bulls are still seemingly worrying as it seems their best chance of a rebound will be either weather in Brazil taking a turn for the worse or some unforeseen political event," said Thomas Kujawa of Sucden Financial.

July futures were down 0.47 cent or 2.1 percent at 21.58 cents a lb at 1439 GMT, having dipped to 21.45 cents on Monday, the lowest level for the front month since September 2010.

Cocoa prices were little changed, supported by a bullish options position on the ICE market, after a participant bought July call options at $3,300 a tonne last week.

ICE July cocoa was up $8 or 0.2 percent to $3,279 per tonne at 1442 GMT, while London July cocoa was unchanged at 1,984 pounds per tonne in modest volume of 4,904 lots.

"What's unusual at the moment is that prices are being driven by New York. There's been a sharp movement higher on the U.S. market over the past 10 days, led by a massive options trade," said Eric Sivry, head of the agri options brokerage at Marex Financial.

Historically New York cocoa trades at a discount to the London market, due to the difference in the quality of the cocoa the two markets attract. But last week London switched from trading at a premium to trading at a small discount as dealers eyed the imminent restart of exports from Ivory Coast.

"London is undervalued compared to New York… it means that your West African beans, which are better quality than Indonesian beans, are cheaper," Sivry said.

(Source: http://www.futurespros.com/news/softs-news/softs-arabica-coffee,-sugar-fall-in-commods-sell-off-1000010749)

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