LONDON: Robusta coffee futures traded on the ICE exchange hit a fresh record peak for the second consecutive day on Thursday, belatedly catching up with this year’s blistering rally in arabica coffee, while white sugar hit a new two month top.
Coffee
Robusta coffee hit $5,849 a metric ton earlier, its highest since the contract started trading in 2008, but retreated to trade little changed by 1207 GMT at $5,825.
Arabica coffee rose 0.4% to $4.2180 per lb. The contract climbed to an all-time high of $4.2995/lb for a 14th successive session early on Tuesday, before retreating sharply.
Robusta prices are seen ending 2025 at $4,200 a metric ton, down 14% versus end-2024, with improved supplies seen in top producers Brazil and Vietnam, a Reuters poll showed. Arabica futures are expected to end the year down by around 30% meanwhile.
Nestle said on Tuesday it will have to hike coffee prices more than previously expected this year, even as it pledged to only pass on a portion of its soaring raw coffee costs onto shoppers.
Cash strapped consumers have been pushing back against price hikes. Nestle’s competitors slowed price increases last year in a move to woo back shoppers but Nestle did not ease as quickly, resulting in weak sales volumes that led to the August ouster of its former CEO.
Citi said in a report this week that coffee prices have likely peaked as demand starts to curtail in response to high prices and supplies replenish, leaving the market with a small surplus in 2025/26.
Asia coffee: Vietnam prices inch higher on higher supplies, global cue
Sugar
Raw sugar futures rose 0.4% to 19.84 cents per lb, while white sugar rose 0.9% to $550.30 a ton, after hitting its highest since early December at $552.30.
Underpinning prices was news that Indonesia plans to import around 200,000 metric tons of raw sugar to top up its food reserve as white sugar prices have climbed in the domestic market, the National Food Agency said.
Against that, sugar production in Thailand, the world’s second largest exporter, is set to climb further in the 2025/26 season, potentially to the highest in seven years, trade and industry sources said.
Cocoa
New York cocoa futures rose 2.1% to $10,343 a ton, having ?settled down 1.7% on Wednesday, while London cocoa rose 1.4% to 8,214 pounds per ton.
Cocoa is being underpinned by concerns about dry weather in top grower Ivory Coast, although stocks held in ICE warehouses in the U.S. have recovered of late, helping keep prices range-bound overall.
