London sugar firms

London white sugar futures settled firmer on trade buying against fund selling on Friday, and dealers said they expected choppy business in the coming sessions. Benchmark October finished up $2.40 at $386.00 per tonne, near the top of the day's range of $386.50 to $380.10. Total volume was 4,265 lots.
"The market could turn out to be very volatile," one trader said. "There is trade buying against fund selling." Prices have slowly recovered this week after October dipped to a seven-month low for the front month of $373.00 on Tuesday. Some traders voiced concerns over talk of an expected big year-on-year drop in EU 2006/07 sugar output.
Asia is awash with sugar as Pakistan looks to halt a buying frenzy and Indian firms are unable to find their way past an export ban. Thai raw sugar premiums turned from negative to positive this week following a sharp drop in world prices and traders denied talk on Friday that China had been buying sugar.
COCOA DIPS: London cocoa futures ended down on speculative selling on Friday as the market extended a long period of consolidation, dealers said. The most-active December contract settled down 6 pounds, or 0.7 percent, at 853 pounds a tonne after trading between 862 and 852 pounds. Total volume across all contracts was 6,372 lots.
London futures have largely traded in a narrow range since July 20. Traders said the market is waiting for news about new West African crops expected to arrive in September. Traders said news that an end-October deadline for long-delayed elections in Ivory Coast, the world's top cocoa grower, had been missed did not come as a surprise.
Cocoa arrivals at ports in Ivory Coast reached 1,323,094 tonnes between October 1 and August 20 in the 2005/06 season, according to an estimate by major exporters on Friday.
COFFEE EXTENDS SLIDE: London robusta coffee futures ended down on Friday, sliding further in low volume trade from seven-year highs hit earlier in the week, dealers said. The benchmark November contract settled down $18, or 1.2 percent, at $1,481 a tonne after trading between $1,528 and $1,489. Total volume across all contracts was 8,515 lots.
The market, which has risen by about 33 percent since the start of the year, was about 4 percent down from the seven-year high of $1,586 reached on Tuesday. The September-November spread was at a premium of about $145, while November-January was at $101. At the start of the month November-January was at a premium of about $22.