MILAN – Robusta coffee futures prices rose to new highs yesterday. In London, the contract for May delivery pierced the $3,500 threshold to reach an all-time high of 3,521 dollars. Prices fell back from their best levels after the dollar recovered from early losses and moved higher.
This sparked long liquidation that brought down prices. However, closing was in positive territory, at 3,465 dollars, up $48 from the previous day.
Robusta coffee prices saw support from yesterday’s projection by the Vietnam Coffee Association that Vietnam’s 2023/24 coffee exports will drop by 20% to 1.336 MMT, or 22.27 bags, as dry weather reduced coffee yields and production.
May Arabica coffee in New York closed up 240 points at 188.05 cents also driven by the London market.
The latest weather news from Brazil, with reports of above-average rain in the coffee belt, helped cap the gains. According to Somar Meteorologia, Brazil’s Minas Gerais region received 28 mm of rainfall in the past week, or 106% of the historical average.
Record high prices were also recorded on the cocoa market.
In New York, the most active cocoa futures contract for May delivery surged to an all-time intraday high of $10,080 per metric ton Tuesday, before ending the day down 0.3% to settle at $9,622.
July was up 2.2% at $9,276 a metric ton after touching a record high of $9,553.
July London cocoa was up 3.3% at 7,755 pounds a metric ton at 1228 GMT after climbing to a record high of 8,009 pounds.
Cocoa has more than tripled in cost over the past year and is up 129% in 2024.
Dealers said the market was supported by a supply shortage after poor crops in Ivory Coast and Ghana, the world’s top two producers, in the current 2023/24 season.
