LONDON, Jan 2 (Reuters) – Robusta coffee futures on ICE rose on Thursday as rains continued to delay the Vietnam harvest and heighten quality concerns.
* Robusta coffee gained 1.7% to $4,957 a metric ton by 1200 GMT, driven by the rain-hampered harvest in top producer Vietnam.
* “The continuous rainy weather also affects bean quality as they cannot be dried and stored properly,” said a trader based in Vietnam’s coffee belt, adding that 20% of beans remained unpicked.
* Arabica coffee futures on ICE rose 1.35% to $3.1910 per lb.
* New York cocoa futures on ICE fell 0.4% to $11,631 a ton.
* Cocoa was the strongest-performing commodity in 2024, with the New York contract posting an annual gain of 178% and setting a record high of $12,931 a ton last month.
* Dealers said the market continued to be underpinned by concerns that dry weather in West Africa could lead to a fourth consecutive global deficit in the current 2024/25 season.
* No rain fell last week in most of Ivory Coast’s main cocoa regions and farmers said on Monday that the dry weather could damage bean quality and tighten supply from February.
* London cocoa rose 0.25% to 9,166 pounds a ton.
* Raw sugar was up 0.5% at 19.35 cents per lb, edging away from the previous session’s three-month low of 19.04 cents.
* Dealers said that recent weakness in Brazil’s real currency remained a bearish factor. A weak real tempts exporters in Brazil to sell dollar-priced sugar because it raises returns in local currency terms.
* March white sugar rose 0.6% to $510.20 a ton.
* Indian mills have produced 9.54 million tons of sugar since the season began on Oct. 1, down 15.5% year on year, a leading industry body said on Thursday, with cane yields down in the three biggest producing states. (Reporting by Nigel Hunt Editing by David Goodman )
