Soft futures mixed; Coffee falls to lowest since March 2009

Investing.com - U.S. soft futures were mixed on Wednesday, with coffee prices falling to the weakest level since March 2009 as market players continued to focus on massive global supplies.On the ICE Futures U.S. Exchange, Arabica coffee for December delivery traded at USD1.1200 a pound, up 0.1%. Arabica prices traded in a range between USD1.1188 a pound, the daily low and a session high of USD1.1203 a pound.The December contract tumbled to USD1.1185 a pound on Tuesday, the weakest level since March 18,2009, before settling at USD1.1195, down 0.67% for the day.Wall Street investment bank Goldman Sachs lowered its price forecast for Arabica coffee by almost 8% last week, citing favorable weather and ample global supplies.Arabica prices will average USD1.2000 a pound in three, six and 12 months, down from a previous forecast of USD1.3000 a pound.Meanwhile, sugar futures for March delivery traded at USD0.1933 a pound, down 0.7%. Prices of the sweetener traded in a range between USD0.1926 a pound, the daily low and a session high of USD0.1945 a pound.The March contract ended 0.15% higher at USD0.1945 a pound on Tuesday.Prices of the sweetener rallied to a 12-month high of USD0.2016 a pound on October 18, as concerns over a disruption to supplies from Brazil drove prices higher.Copersucar, Brazil's largest sugar trader, said on October 18 that a fire damaged six of its warehouses at a key port in Santos, destroying nearly 180,000 tons of raw sugar.Copersucar shipped 5.12 million tons of the sweetener in the 2011-12 marketing year, according to information on its website. Santos is the biggest port in Brazil, the world's largest producer and exporter of the sweetener.Elsewhere, cotton futures for December delivery traded at USD0.8271 a pound, up 0.3%. Cotton prices held in a range between USD0.8246 a pound, the session low and a daily high of USD0.8282 a pound.The December contract fell to USD0.8244 a pound on Tuesday, the lowest level since September 6, before settling USD0.8245 a pound, down 0.73%.According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, approximately 21% of the U.S. cotton harvest was completed as of last week. The five-year average for this time of year is 34%.