Arabica coffee extends retreat, raw sugar hits 2-month high

(Adds background, updates prices)

LONDON, Feb 14 (Reuters) – Arabica coffee futures were lower on Friday, slipping further away from a record high earlier this week, while raw sugar prices climbed to a two-month peak.

* Arabica coffee was down 1.6% at $4.1840 per lb by 1408 GMT after a record high of $4.2995 on Tuesday.

* Dealers said the market was underpinned by tight supplies and the prospect of a smaller arabica crop in top grower Brazil this year.

* The longer-term outlook is less bullish, however, partly owing to a more favourable outlook for next year’s Brazil harvest.

* Arabica coffee futures are expected to fall by about 30% by the end of 2025, with recent record prices expected to curb demand and early signs pointing to a bumper Brazilian crop next year, a Reuters poll showed on Thursday.

* The mid-sized coffee merchant Central do Cafe in Brazil’s Minas Gerais state suspended operations temporarily starting this week, seeking to renegotiate its debts, according to a note shared by farmers on Thursday and local media.

* Robusta coffee lost a marginal 0.05% to $5,785 a metric ton, holding just below Thursday’s record high of $5,849.

* Raw sugar rose 0.45% to 20.26 cents per lb after hitting a two-month high of 20.28 cents.

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* Dealers said Indian sugar exports had slowed because of rising domestic prices and even the current export quota of one million tons might not be fulfilled.

* “Adverse weather in key sugar-producing states has led to the closure of several sugar mills. Consequently, further easing of export restrictions from India is unlikely, providing a price floor,” BMI said in a note on Friday.

* White sugar rose 0.3% to $531.20 a ton.

* A total of 411,200 metric tons of mostly Guatemalan white sugar has been tendered against the March contract on ICE Futures Europe, exchange data showed on Friday.

* New York cocoa futures fell 1% to $10,432 a ton.

* London cocoa was down 0.85% at 8,207 pounds a ton. (Reporting by Nigel Hunt Editing by David Goodman and David Evans)