ICE coffee down pending grading at ports

London: ICE coffee futures eased Friday as dealers said a large amount of arabica coffee awaited grading at ports, and cocoa eased due to indications the Ghanaian harvest was coming to market.

Sugar was steady, facing technical resistance above 27 cents for 453.3g.

Arabica coffee futures on ICE were slightly lower as dealers said large volume of arabica coffee up for grading on ICE could be perceived as negative for prices. A total of 93,329 60kg bags of coffee at Antwerp, Hamburg, Bremen, Houston and New York ports awaited grading.

Dealers said it wasn't clear whether this was coffee that was being re-graded after expiring or whether it was washed milds that had not been sold as roasters switch to more Brazilian coffee.

December arabica coffee futures on ICE were down two cents or 0.9 per cent at $2.3260 (Dh8.54) per 453.3g at 14.04 GMT.

Meanwhile, any damage to crops caused by rain in Central America was still being assessed, while infrastructure damage was expected to delay exports in the coming months. "We believe that any rain damage is very limited," said James Hearn, joint head of agriculture at Marex Spectron.