Liffe robusta coffee hits 4-month low
    LONDON, June 22 (Reuters) - Liffe robusta coffee set a
four-month low in early trade on Wednesday as bearish technicals
helped to spark sales while ICE arabicas edged higher.
    Cocoa prices were mixed with a firmer dollar weighing on ICE
prices while sugar slipped back slightly but remained within
striking distance of peaks set earlier this week. 
     
   

   COFFEE
    * Liffe robusta coffee futures fell to a four-month low in
early trade, weighed by bearish technicals and the prospect of a
large Vietnamese crop later this year.
    
    * Liffe September robustas <LRCc2> were down $31 at $2,265 a
tonne at 0844 GMT after touching $2,248, the lowest level for
the second month since mid-February.
    
    * ICE September arabica coffee <KCc2> was up a marginal 0.55
cent at $2.4750 per lb with the market showing signs of slowing
recovering after hitting a five-month low earlier this week.
    
    * Premiums for robusta skyrocketed in Asia as supply
scarcity worsened, with Indonesian beans changing hands at $200
above London futures and Vietnamese coffee at $150 premiums,
raising fears of more delays and even default, dealers said on
Wednesday.  
     
    * Students returning from abroad and frequent international
travellers will keep China's coffee consumption at 15 to 20
percent annual growth by patronising new domestic outlets
selling high-priced versions of the brew, industry watchers
said.      
    SUGAR
    * Raw sugar futures on ICE eased in early trade with the
market's focus increasingly turning to next week's expiry of the
July contract.
    
    * ICE July raw sugar futures  were down 0.30 cent at
27.19 cents a lb. The contract peaked at 27.58 cents on Monday,
the highest level for the front month since early April.
    
    * Dealers said the market remained underpinned by the slow
start to the Brazilian harvest, and loading delays in Brazil and
Thailand.
    
    * Liffe August white sugar  was off $0.20 at $743.40
per tonne. The contract rose of to a peak of $747.80 on Tuesday,
the highest level for the front month in more than three months.
     
    COCOA
    * ICE cocoa futures were slightly lower, weighed partly by a
firmer dollar, while prices on the sterling-denominated Liffe
contract were little changed.
     
    * September cocoa on ICE  was off $18 at $3,008 a
tonne while September cocoa on Liffe  rose 1 pound to
1,885 pounds a tonne.
    
    * Swollen shoot disease, which has hit cocoa crops in
central Ivory Coast, is advancing west into the cocoa belt and
researchers are still years away from finding tree varieties
resistant to the virus, a top government scientist said on
Tuesday. 
     
    OTHER MARKETS
    * The euro stabilised and Asian shares rose after the Greek
government won a vote of confidence as expected, prompting
investors to shift focus to the U.S. Federal Reserve's news
conference due later in the day.  
     
    * Brent crude edged higher after five sessions of losses, as
Greece's embattled government survived a confidence vote
critical to avoid a debt default and ahead of the outcome of a
key U.S. Federal Reserve meeting. 
     
    * European shares retreated, with investors taking a
cautious stance ahead of a meeting of the U.S. Federal Reserve
that might provide clues about the central bank's next moves to
support the economy.
 (Reporting by Nigel Hunt; Editing by Sue Thomas) 
    

Wednesday, 22 June 2011 16:03:45RTRS