SOFTS-Coffee, cocoa and sugar plunge as Trump tariff turmoil continues

NEW YORK, April 7 (Reuters) - World coffee, cocoa and sugar prices plunged on Monday as investors continued to fret about recession risks, with U.S. President Donald Trump showing little sign of backing down from sweeping trade tariffs imposed late last week.

Investors fear a global trade war could spur higher prices, leading to weaker demand and potentially a global recession.

Trump has imposed baseline levies of 10% on almost all countries' exports to the U.S., and higher tariffs on many. Hardest hit were Asian countries, with China now facing total tariffs of more than 50% and top robusta coffee producer Vietnam hit with a 46% levy.

Robusta coffee futures LRCc2 traded on the ICE exchange and are seen as a global price benchmark for that type of coffee settled down $328, or 6.4%, at $4,800 a ton, having hit their lowest in more than four months at $4,751, while arabica KCc1 slid 5.7% at $3.448 per lb, having earlier hit a two-month low of $3.3860.

Indonesia, the world's third-largest robusta exporter, faces a 32% tariff on exports to the U.S., while Brazil, the world's top arabica shipper and No. 2 robusta exporter, faces levies of 10%.

"The tariffs might impact coffee demand in the U.S., where coffee prices have been rising since late 2024, having hit their highest level in February," said broker Hedgepoint Global Markets in a note.

Dealers said both robusta and arabica were largely under pressure from fears of a global recession. Vietnam and Indonesia do not ship huge volumes of coffee to the United States.

Still, the U.S. is the world's largest chocolate and coffee consumer, and one of the world's top sugar users, so any decline in its consumption patterns will affect world prices.

In other soft commodities, London cocoa LCCc2 ​​settled down 356 pounds, or 5.6%, to 6,014 pounds per ton, having hit a five-month low of 5,971, while New York cocoa CCc1 fell 5.4% to $8,053 a ton, having closed down 8% on Friday.

Cocoa traders remain concerned about the upcoming mid-crop in top producer Ivory Coast.

Exporters estimated cocoa arrivals at Ivorian ports from the season start to April 6 were up 10.5% from the same period a year ago, but they are expected to fall sharply following adverse weather this year.

Elsewhere, raw sugar SBc1 slipped 0.8% to 18.68 cents per lb​​, having earlier hit its lowest in nearly a month at 18.62, while white sugar LSUc1 fell 0.8% to $533.90 a ton.