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CSCE coffee slip back at close, trade at standstill

NEW YORK: CSCE coffee futures slipped back a little at the close Wednesday, as the market continued to stagnate ahead of the key ACPC meeting next week to discuss a stock plan to boost prices.

"Look at the volume. You can't make any conclusions from that. It's just terrible," one broker said.

Active May arabica settled at 103.90 cents a lb, 0.60 cent softer, trading 105.25 to 103.50 cents.

Second month July fell back 0.55 cent to 106.60 cents a lb, whilst the rest of the board fell by 0.50 to 0.70 cent.

Traders and brokers said that Wednesday's proceedings were dominated by locals and switch play, with some brokers reporting reasonable selling coming in above the market from Central American origins.

"If someone actually wanted to do anything, to the upside or the downside, they could push the market probably three cents. But you're seeing that nobody wants to do anything," the broker said.

"As a large trade house, I do anything from five to ten lots a day. It's just horrible."

Market operators are slumbering ahead of the upcoming meeting of the Association of Coffee Producing Countries (ACPC) in London on April 4-5 to take up a retention plan to shore up coffee prices.

Coffee producers from Central America, Mexico, Colombia, Brazil and the Dominican Republic will also meet in Costa Rica, on April 5, in a parallel meeting.

Central American producers are keen to learn more about the position of the world's two biggest producers -- Colombia and Brazil -- on price regulation mechanisms.

On a technical basis, traders said May arabica should see support at 100.25, followed by the psychological level of 100 cents, then the recent low of 98.40 cents. Resistance would be at 107, then 109-110 cents.

Volume traded reached an estimated 5,377 lots, against the official previous volume of 5,852 lots.

Call volume reached an estimated 711 lots, whilst puts were seen at 351 lots.

The CSCE is a subsidiary of the New York Board of Trade. -Reuters