Arabica coffee rebounds from 3-week low; sugar eases

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LONDON — Arabica coffee futures on ICE rose sharply on Monday, rebounding strongly from a three-week low touched earlier in the session, while sugar and cocoa prices fell.

COFFEE

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* March arabica coffee was 4.5% higher at $1.6525 per lb by 1510 GMT, rebounding from a three-week low of $1.5455.

* Dealers said there continued to be concerns about the outlook for crops next year in Brazil and Colombia although rising exchange stocks should cap gains.

* ICE certified coffee stocks stood at 681,698 bags on Dec. 9, the highest level since early August and well above a 23-year low of 382,695 bags set on Nov. 3. There were 384,310 bags pending grading.

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* March robusta coffee rose 1.1% to $1,884 a tonne.

SUGAR

* March raw sugar fell 0.9% to 19.43 cents per lb.

* Dealers said the market had been underpinned by short-term supply tightness but that is set to ease in coming weeks as production expands in countries such as Thailand.

* “Peak crushing season is getting underway in Thailand which expects a strong crop. As global trade flows start loosening with more exports from Thailand, sugar prices should start easing from the current levels,” Citi said in a report.

* They also noted that both cane and sugar production in Centre-South Brazil in the second half of November was well above the same period last year.

* March white sugar fell 1.1% to $535.60 a tonne.

COCOA

* March New York cocoa fell 0.8% to $2,483 a tonne.

* Cocoa arrivals at ports in top grower Ivory Coast had reached 954,000 tonnes by Dec. 11 since the start of the season on Oct. 1, up 10% from the same period last season, exporters estimated on Monday.

* March London cocoa fell 1.2% to 1,919 pounds a tonne. (Reporting by Nigel Hunt; Editing by Kirsten Donovan and Sherry Jacob-Phillips)