Traders called front month March robusta futures to open unchanged. But further out upside potential was seen limited and prices were expected to head lower. "Coffee is more or less directionless at the moment," said independent technical analyst Elli Gifford.

"There is very little room to the upside and in the next week or so prices will probably drift lower," she added, pegging near-term support at $1,700 a tonne and at $1,680 below there. Elliot Wave International's Jim Martens said that coffee prices looked susceptible to a sharp fall. "This market is vulnerable to an immediate downward reversal...that targets $1,636," he said, placing resistance at $1,719 and $1,733. LIFFE coffee futures closed lower on Thursday, drifting in modest volumes amid speculative selling pressure, though dealers cited some scale down buying by roasters.

In New York, March CSCE arabica coffeefutures ended moderately lower, pressured by producer and speculative selling amid reports of hefty Brazilian coffee exports this month.

The Brazilian Federation of Coffee Exporters said last week that the country could ship as much as 1.8 million 60-kg bags of green coffee this month, up from the 1.4 million export figure forecast for January.