ICE Coffee Futures Fall Modestly by FC Stone

Arabica coffee futures fell Thursday at the end of a very slow session. The most active position for March delivery, settled 45 points lower at 126.35 cents a pound. Activity remained light, with the volume reaching only 13,759 lots, including 2,100 switches.  The nearby March-May switch narrowed 10 points to end at -2.05 cents. The dollar was up again in the forex markets, pressuring the commodity complex. The real dropped after Moody’s announced it may cut the nation’s sovereign debt to junk on economy and political deterioration. The currency was down 562 points at BRL3.8065 at 2:30 pm EST. The Colombian peso recovered on news of a possible sale of a large utility. The currency was up 352 points at COP3,247.80 at the same time. Tomorrow, the coffee January’s options will expire. Low open interest  values  appear  that  will  cause  a  minor  effect  on  the  short  term  direction  of  the  prices.  Next  week,  on December 15, the  November GCA stock data will be published. It could be a very important factor to observe, given that last year a decrease of 307,000 bags was reported during the month of November. The five year average is a reduction of 150,000 bags. Brazil exports during November were estimated at 3.3 million bags, close to the record of 3.4 million on Oct 2010.