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CSCE coffee crawls higher in listless trading

NEW YORK: CSCE coffee futures ended marginally higher Tuesday as many market operators continued to stay on the sidelines ahead of the ACPC's scheduled meeting to discuss retention in early April.

"I have absolutely nothing to tell you. It was rangebound. We haven't seen a range like that in the longest time. There was nothing," one broker said.

May arabica closed up 0.95 cent at 104.20 cents a lb after trading 104.40- 103.50 cents. July gained 0.95 to 104.20 cents and the rest rose 0.90-1.10 cents.

Spot March went off the board 0.65 cent higher at 103.75 cents.

"The biggest thing that happened today is that March went of the board!" one roaster said.

"You're bouncing between support at 100 (cents) and going up to 108. There's nothing going on."

Arabicas were dominated by local trading Tuesday as the market continued to stagnate amid a lack of fundamental news and in anticipation of the outcome of the April 4-5 meeting between members of the Association of Coffee Producing Countries (ACPC).

"Maybe they are (waiting). I think it'll (market) have a bigger move if they decide to throw it out, than if they say...we're going to keep out six million bags," the roaster said. "I think the overall impression is still such that it (retention) never works."

Traders and brokers said "complacent" buying by roasters, directly linked to daily run-ups in U.S. certified coffee stocks, were preventing the market from really moving higher.

"You keep looking at the certifieds and they're not stopping. We're putting on a lot more bags daily. It used to take us three or four weeks to get to 38,000 bags, now it's just one day," the roaster said.

On a technical basis, traders said May arabica should see support at 102.50, then 101.25, followed by 100 cents. Resistance would be at 110, then the recent peak of 110.25 cents.

Volume traded reached an estimated 1,052 lots, against the official previous volume of 6,951 lots.

Call volume reached an estimated 1,665 lots, whilst puts were seen at 302 lots.

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