SOFTS-Arabica coffee hits 5-1/2 month low while cocoa also falls

LONDON, Feb 4 (Reuters) - Arabica coffee prices slumped to a 5-1/2 month low on Wednesday weighed by the prospect of a larger crop in top producer Brazil this year while cocoa prices also fell.

COFFEE

Arabica coffee KCc1 was down 0.6% at $3.1515 per lb by 1426 GMT​​ after hitting a 5-1/2 month low of $3.1405.

Dealers also noted ICE exchange stocks were beginning to creep higher and should climb further in the near future with the volume of coffee pending grading growing.

Exchange data showed there were 60,627 bags of arabica coffee pending grading, as of February 3, up from 28,354 bags a week earlier.

Robusta coffee LRCc1 rose 1.05% to $3,850 a metric ton.

COCOA

London cocoa LCCc1 lost 4.2% to 2,958 pounds a ton, slipping back towards a more than two-year low of 2,728 pounds set on Friday.

Dealers said the market remained on the defensive owing to weak demand that is leading to a build-up in stocks of unsold beans in both Ivory Coast and Ghana

A surge in cocoa prices in 2023 and 2024 has driven up the cost of chocolate, curbing demand, while some manufacturers have reformulated products to reduce cocoa content.

Cadbury parent Mondelez International MDLZ.O expects a subdued year ahead as price increases deter shoppers already facing rising living costs and macroeconomic uncertainty.

New York cocoa CCc1 fell 4.4% to $4,112 a ton.

SUGAR

Raw sugar SBc1 lost 0.6% to 14.54 cents per lb, slipping back towards a 2-1/2 month low of 14.13 cents set on Monday.

Dealers continued to keep a close watch on news from the annual Dubai sugar conference, with forecasts that the market is likely to be more balanced in the coming 2026/27 season because of declining production.

White sugar LSUc1 retreated 1% to $413.60 a ton.

Indian sugar mills are unlikely to export their full allocation of 1.5 million tons in the current 2025/26 marketing year ending in September, a senior industry official said on Wednesday.