Arabica coffee hits fresh 13-year high

LONDON, Nov 18 (Reuters): Arabica coffee futures on ICE hit fresh 13-year highs on Monday amid concerns over supplies in central and south America, and uncertainty on the regulatory front, while cocoa retreated somewhat from last week's stellar rally.

COFFEE

March arabica coffee was up 0.9 per cent at $2.8570 per lb at 1431 GMT, having hit its highest since May 2011 at $2.9150.

The crop in top producer Brazil appears to have lost some potential following the drought earlier this year, with forecasters increasingly expecting lower arabica output this season. Tropical depression Sara is headed on to Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula on Sunday after unleashing floods over Honduras and Belize that killed at least one person. The storm damaged some coffee farms in Honduras, Central America's top producer.

Rabobank said coffee is also being driven by uncertainty over the upcoming EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), as well as fears over potential US tariffs. January robusta coffee was up 0.5 per cent at $4,796 a metric ton.

COCOA

March London cocoa fell 4 per cent to 6,595 pounds per ton, as the market readjusted after a stellar 22.19 per cent gain last week.

Cocoa arrivals at ports in top grower Ivory Coast reached 549,000 metric tons by Nov. 17 since the start of the season on Oct. 1, up from 417,000 tons the same period last season, exporters estimated.

The market expects arrivals to tail off going forward, however.

Ivory Coast has reduced its sales of cocoa export contracts for the 2024/25 season by 40 per cent in recent days due to worsening weather conditions which have caused production concerns, two sources told Reuters last week.

March New York cocoa fell 3.5 per cent to $8,206 a tonne.