Softs: Arabica coffee plumbs fresh 1-1/2-year low as surplus supplies loom

Barry Callebaut AG

03/06/2026 19:37

Adds comments on coffee, updates prices to settlement

    NEW YORK, June 3 (Reuters) - Arabica coffee futures on ICE plumbed fresh 1-1/2-year lows on Wednesday, with dealers focused on the prospect of surplus supplies.
     
COFFEE
* Arabica coffee KCc1 settled down 6.1 cents, or 2.4%, at $2.531 per lb​​,​ after hitting its lowest since November 2024 at $2.5240.
* "The market leans harder into a bigger Brazil crop and a smoother harvest outlook," said GSX Commodities in a note.
* "But the sell-off is not without upside risks. Certified and destination stocks remain thin enough that any delay in Brazilian flows, renewed weather risk or stronger nearby demand can still turn a comfortable paper balance into a physical squeeze," it said.
* Coffee production in Brazil in the 2026/27 season should hit 71.9 million 60-kg bags, up from 63 million bags in the previous season, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said.
* Cooxupe, Brazil's largest coffee co-operative, said its farmers have harvested 8.9% of the crop as of May 29, above the 6.9% reported in the year-ago period.
* A large harvest in Brazil should contribute to a wide global surplus of 9.5 million bags in 2026/27, up from a 1.2 million bag surplus in 2025/26, Rabobank said.
* ICE-certified arabica stocks fell to a fresh three-month low on Wednesday.
* Robusta coffee LRCc1 fell 2.6% to $3,371 a metric ton.
* Top robusta grower Vietnam exported 928,000 tons of coffee in the first five months of 2026, up around 8% from the same period a year earlier.
        
COCOA
* London cocoa LCCc2 fell 1.4% to £3,083 per ton, having closed up 5.6% on Tuesday amid supply concerns linked to El Nino.
* Top grower Ivory Coast has started to slow sales due to concerns about the impact of a looming El Nino, four sources told Reuters.
* The chief of Barry Callebaut BARN.S, the world's top cocoa processor and chocolate producer, said El Nino weather conditions could drive up cocoa bean prices by a few thousand pounds per metric ton.
* New York cocoa CCc1 fell 0.9% to $4,072 a ton.
         
SUGAR
* Raw sugar SBc1 ​​settled down 0.14 cent, or 1%, at 14.24 cents per lb.
* Sugar production in Brazil's center-south region is expected to have fallen 14% in the first half of May compared with a year earlier, an S&P Global Energy survey showed. 
* A new wave of biofuel innovation is sweeping top sugar grower Brazil, meaning sugarcane or corn-based ethanol fuel could before long be complemented by fuels made from grains, tubers and other exotic feedstocks.
* White sugar LSUc1 fell 0.2% to $444.80 a ton. 

(Reporting by May Angel and Marcelo Teixeira; Editing by Jonathan Ananda, Rod Nickel)
((marcelo.teixeira@tr.com; +1 332 220 8062; https://x.com/tx_marcelo;))