London sugar lower

London white sugar futures ended lower on Wednesday as funds switched the front-month October contract into December, with Iraqi demand and high energy prices underpinning the market, traders said. October closed down $2.6 at $312.1 per tonne in volume of 3,193 lots after trading from $311 to $315.
December settled down $2.2 at $302.1 in volume of 2,803 lots, having moved from $301 to $304.6. "There is fund rolling of October-December and trade selling of October," one trader said. Traders said hedge selling against Thursday's EU sugar export tender was possible.
Iraqi white sugar buying was believed to be a factor underpinning a surge in October futures to a $315.50 contract high this week, traders said. Several traders said the Dubai refinery Al Khaleej had sold sugar to Iraq, but its chairman Jamal Al Ghurair denied talk in the freight market that Al Khaleej was seeking to move a few cargoes to the region from September through to later this year.
Ukraine is likely to increase its white sugar output from beet to 1.8-2.0 million tonnes in 2005 from 1.79 million in 2004, a senior agriculture official said.
COCOA CONSOLIDATES GAINS:
London's benchmark cocoa prices gained for a second session on Wednesday as the market consolidated at the higher levels produced by last week's rally.
Liffe's December contract raced to a one-month peak of 890 pounds a tonne last week but has since stalled as speculators tired of short covering. December rose seven pounds to close at 882 pounds a tonne. It moved 7,601 lots in an 859-884 price band.
Total volume was 13,019 lots with 2,585 lots on front-month on September. The spot contract went into backwardation as a premium of as much as 30 pounds over December developed. The September-December spread finished at 20 pounds with September closing up 26 pounds at 901.
COFFEE DOWN: London robusta futures declined to a one-week low on Wednesday as reports from New Orleans dampened speculation about hurricane damage to US coffee stocks, dealers said.
Nearly half of the 1.6 million 60-kg bags of unroasted coffee stored in the port of New Orleans was in good condition following Hurricane Katrina, a port warehouse spokesman said on Tuesday.
Selling by speculators knocked Liffe's benchmark November coffee as low as $958 a tonne. The contract closed down 2.7 percent at $961 after a session high of $984. Volume was 4,492 lots out of a total of 6,178.
November rose to $1,042 last week on concern about damage to coffee storage and processing facilities in New Orleans, the second most important port for the US coffee industry after New York.