Liffe March white sugar ended $28.70 higher at $709.70 per tonne on Wednesday, supported by trade and system fund buying. Market also buoyed by unseasonal rains in India which have reduced production in some areas. Liffe March cocoa ended 2 pounds higher at 1,862 pounds a tonne. Market continues to eye Sunday's presidential run-off in top grower Ivory Coast with increasingly hostile rhetoric fuelling fears of street violence.
Liffe January robusta coffee ended $19 lower at $1,834 per tonne, weighed by a setback in ICE arabicas. Harvest in top robusta producer Vietnam seen gathering pace in the next few days. Sugar futures rose on trade and system-fund buying, as participants took advantage of lower prices after the sell-off, dealers said. "Trade houses see these price levels as an opportunity for coverage," a London-based trader said.
Another dealer said, "Algorithmic operators have been buying today. The selling has been from producers." Continued rainfall in growing areas of India and Australia, supported sugar futures prices, dealers said. India's state of Maharashtra has reported a 29 percent decline in production, year-on-year, since the start of October because of delays to the harvest caused by heavy rainfall.
"This could have an impact on the Indian government's imminent decision whether and how much sugar may be exported," Commerzbank said in a market note on Wednesday. Rains falling in Vietnam's Central Highlands coffee belt in the past week are forecast to end early next week, a state-run newspaper said, enabling coffee cherries to ripen before the harvest starts in earnest in about 10 days. Dealers said a major short-term focus was the forthcoming presidential run-off election in top cocoa producer Ivory Coast.
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