Arabica coffee turns lower after hitting record high

LONDON: Arabica coffee futures turned lower on Tuesday after earlier hitting a new record high while cocoa and sugar prices rose.

Coffee

Arabica coffee fell 0.85% to $4.1750 per lb by 1128 GMT after hitting a record high of $4.2995 in early trading.

Dealers said the recent surge in prices had led to a reduction in liquidity with the market set to remain choppy.

An expected drop in Brazil’s arabica coffee crop this year following hot and dry weather in 2024 has helped to tighten global supplies.

Broker Hedgepoint on Monday cut its forecast for Brazil’s 2025/26 arabica crop to 41.1 million bags from a previous projection of 42.6 million.

Robusta coffee fell 0.3% to $5,680 a metric ton.

Asia coffee: Vietnam market upbeat post holidays

Cocoa

New York cocoa futures rose 0.85% to $9.962 a ton.

Dealers said the market was supported by concerns about dry weather in top grower Ivory Coast.

A lack of rain in most of Ivory Coast’s cocoa-growing regions could delay the start of the April-to-September mid-crop, potentially leading to a shortage of beans, the main ingredient in chocolate, farmers said on Monday.

London cocoa was up 0.2% at 7,821 pounds per ton.

Sugar

Raw sugar futures were up 1.1% at 19.72 cents per lb.

Dubai’s Al Khaleej Sugar is operating at 70% capacity as sugar refineries in the Middle East struggle with overcapacity, the company’s managing director, Jamal al-Ghurair, said on Tuesday during the Dubai Sugar Conference.