Robusta coffee soars to 3-yr high, Japan eyed

NEW YORK/LONDON,  - Robusta futures charged up a 3-year peak Thursday as a shortage of deliverable supplies in the London coffee market stoked a rally which crossed the sea to New York arabica futures.

Sugar surged due to increased cash buying and cocoa was propped up by the violent power struggle which has virtually stopped bean exports in top cocoa producer Ivory Coast.

London's May robusta futures jumped $128 or by 5.15 percent to close at $2,615 per tonne, having hit a lifetime and 3-year top of $2,661. New York's May arabica coffee contract rose 5.55 cents to close at $2.709 a lb.

COFFEE AND COCOA FORECAST FOR TODAY AND YESTERDAY'S MARKET CLOSE REVIEW

NEW YORK,  - Raw sugar, arabica coffee and cocoa futures finished higher on Thursday as the marketextended gains after heavy liquidation this week caused by the nuclear crisis in earthquake-hit Japan.

COFFEE
* May arabica coffee futures rose 5.55 cents to end at $2.709 per lb.
 

* Analysts said the rise was inspired by a rally in the London robusta market to its highest in three years.
 

* Scoville said strong London values hoisted New York "up along with it".

COFFEE AND COCOA FORECAST FOR TODAY AND YESTERDAY'S MARKET CLOSE REVIEW

    NEW YORK, March 17, 2011 - Arabica coffee futures closed higher Wednesday as the market staged a modest rebound after a selling spree sparked by the nuclear plant emergency in Japan which was already reeling from a killerquake and tsunami.

    But cocoa futures were hit by late investor selling to close near an eight-week low.

    COFFEE

    * May arabica coffee futures <KCc2> increased 2.40 cents toconclude at $2.6535 per lb.

Brazil further curtails foreign land purchases

BRASILIA, March 17, 2011 - Brazil has closed a legal loophole used by foreigners to buy farm land, a change of rules that is fueling uncertainty among agricultural investors in one of the world's leading food exporters.

"We simply applied the law," Attorney-General Luis Inacio Adams told Reuters on Wednesday. "Foreigners can buy land up to a certain limit and they can create (minority) partnerships with Brazilians."

-Kenya to reintroduce robusta coffee variety

NAIROBI, March 17, 2011 - Kenya is poised to reintroduce robusta coffee this year in areas that do not normally grow the commodity, and possibly build a factory to process the beans once volumes are substantial, the country's regulator said.

East Africa's biggest economy stopped producing the bean variety almost three decades ago after production plummeted when farmers cut back growing of robusta due to low earnings compared with the arabica variety for which Kenya is renowned.

Liffee Cocoa tumble in commodities sell-off

* Liffe May robusta coffee ends down $15 at $2,375 a tonne. Prices slide along with other commodity markets after a  huge earthquake and tsunami struck Japan.
 

* Liffe May cocoa ends down 63 pounds at 2,121 pounds a tonne, caught up in the sell-off in commodities. *********

COFFEE FORECAST TODAY & Yesterday's MARKET CLOSE REVIEW

NEW YORK, March 15 (Reuters) - Soft commodities trading on ICE Futures U.S. tumbled across the board Tuesday on continued risk aversion as thethird biggest consumer Japan's nuclear crisis grew.

Arabica futures closed down for the fourth straight day at a one-month low, falling further from last week's 34-year high. Raw sugar closed down 7.7 percent at a 5-month low and cocoa finished at the lowest level in 5 weeks.

COFFEE
* May arabica coffee futures tumbled to close down 10.35 cents,  or 3.8 percent, at $2.6295 per lb, its lowest settlement since Feb. 16.
 

* Market tumbled in heavy volume, as risk aversion hit the commodity  complex - traders.
 

* Market viewed as due for a correction lower, after hitting a 34-year  high last week at $2.9665 per lb, basis second position - traders.
 

* If May closes below $2.60 will indicate an end to the recent uptrend  - traders.
 

* Tight global supplies of washed arabica beans continue to be seen as  a bullish factor and underpinning support - traders.
 

* Coffee stocks, already at the lowest levels since the International  Coffee Organization began keeping records in 1965, may fall further - ICO  Chief Economist Denis Seudieu.
 

COCOA
* Benchmark May cocoa futures sank $134, or 4 percent, to close  at $3,255, the lowest settlement since Feb. 7.
 

* May narrowed significantly to close at a $9 premium to July ,  from $30 the previous session.
 

* Market tumbled in heavy volume on pressure from the macroeconomic  picture that caused long liquidation across the commodity complex -  traders.
 

* A closely followed, independent analyst released a global supply  report projecting a huge global supply surplus of nearly 200,000 tonnes, may have added additional pressure - dealers.
 

* Gunmen shot dead four people near a roadblock run by youth supporters
of Ivory Coast's Laurent Gbagbo in the Abidjan suburb of Deux Plateau -  witnesses.
 

* Swiss premium chocolate maker Lindt & Spruengli said strong demand for its Lindor pralines and gold foil-wrapped Easter bunnies meant  it was aiming for 2011 sales growth of 6-8 percent in local currencies. *****