Good afternoon and welcome to Markets Desk.
Soft commodity markets took a beating today, with coffee leading the selloff. July arabica settled down more than two percent, and robusta wasn't far behind, both pressured by expectations of abundant supply ahead of Brazil's upcoming harvest season. When the world's largest producer is about to bring in a big crop, the market prices it fast and prices it hard.
Cocoa told a similar story. July ICE New York cocoa closed nearly four percent lower on Monday, dragged down by robust West African supplies and weakening demand. Ivory Coast shipment data showed farmers have moved one point five one million metric tons to port — that's a significant volume, and with buyers pulling back, the supply-demand math is working squarely against the bulls right now.
Across the Atlantic, Britain's King Charles and Queen Camilla have arrived in the United States on a state visit, and the timing carries real diplomatic weight. The relationship between Washington and London has been strained over Iran policy, and the Crown is being deployed as a bridge — soft power in service of hard geopolitics. Whether the pageantry translates into policy movement remains the question.
That's the tape. Markets Desk, signing off the floor.
