Arabica-Coffee Futures Slip to Fresh More Than 4-Year Low

  NEW YORK  -  Arabica-coffee futures slid to a fresh more than four-year low

Friday as expectations for massive supplies continued to weigh on the market.

  Brazilian coffee growers are expected to harvest 47.5 million 60-kilogram

(132-pound) bags of coffee this year, a record for an "off-year" harvest,

government crop agency Conab said earlier this month.

  No. 1 coffee grower and exporter Brazil's two-year coffee production cycle is

characterized by alternating years of higher and lower productivity, and 2013

is a down year.

  "Harvest pressure from Brazil's very large off-year crop is continuing to

weigh on the market," said Sterling Smith, a futures specialist at Citigroup in

Chicago. And, "beneficial rains are being seen in most of Brazil's coffee

growing areas, which will allow the 2014 crop to get off to a good start."

  Arabica coffee for December delivery on the ICE Futures U.S. exchange ended

down 1% at $1.1465 a pound in thin volume trade, the lowest settlement since

July 10, 2009.

  Coffee had rallied Thursday for the first time in four sessions after the

U.S. dollar weakened against the Brazilian real, following the Fed's decision

to maintain its bond-buying program.

  A stronger real discourages growers and processors from selling their

products abroad, since they would receive less of the local currency back for

the dollar-denominated commodities.

  But the real has since weakened against the dollar, and the market is still

worried about big supplies.

  "I think coffee is probably going to see new lows" in the near-term, said

Hernando de la Roche, senior vice president at INTL FCStone in Miami. There are

simply "plenty of supplies" to go around, he added.

  Cocoa futures eased Friday after the market failed to retest the key

technical and psychological level of $2,650 a ton.

  Cocoa futures touched a one-year high of $2,657 a ton in intraday trade

Thursday before pulling back, but the market continues to be supported by

concerns about the quantity and quality of the upcoming West African cocoa

harvest.

  Traders say dry weather in the No. 1 cocoa-producing region during a key

period of growth could hurt output.

  Cocoa for December delivery on the ICE Futures U.S. exchange ended 0.8% lower

at $2,608 a ton.

  Raw sugar for October delivery settled 0.1% higher at 17.18 cents a pound,

and cotton for December delivery closed down 0.2% at 84.52 cents a pound.

Orange-juice futures bucked the general trend in softs, ending up 0.2% at

$1.2555 a pound as investors took profits from short positions.