Arabica coffee retreats from a six-week high, while raw sugar strengthens on supply concerns

⑴ Arabica coffee futures fell about 2.7% on Wednesday to $3.2650 per pound, further retracing from the six-week high of $3.4565 per pound reached in the previous session. Scattered showers are forecast for Brazil's coffee-producing regions in the coming days, which may improve the outlook for next year's crop growth. ⑵ Data from Brazil's largest coffee cooperative, Cooxupe, shows that as of August 21, this year's crop harvesting progress reached 87.5%, higher than the previous week's 81.1%, but still lagging behind last year's 91.3% for the same period. Exchange-certified inventories continue to decline to 225,000 bags, far below the 730,000 bags of the same period last year, indicating that the short-term tight supply situation remains unchanged. ⑶ Robusta coffee fell 2.4% to $3,603 per ton. Raw sugar futures rose 1.6% to 17.55 cents per pound, as the market is closely watching whether a strengthening El Niño weather event could put pressure on output in several major producing countries. ⑷ French sugar producer Tereos expects that extreme heat and drought this summer will lead to a more than 20% year-on-year decrease in its beet output, and EU sugar production may hit a 38-year low. White sugar futures rose 0.55% to $519.80 per ton. ⑸ London and New York cocoa futures both edged up, by 0.3% and 0.1% respectively, to £4,226 and $5,836 per ton, with overall trading showing a mild trend.