Raw sugar prices ease, coffee and cocoa climb

LONDON: Raw sugar futures on ICE were lower on Thursday, pressured partly by renewed weakness in crude oil prices, while coffee and cocoa prices rose.

SUGAR

October raw sugar was down 0.13 cent, or 1.1%, at 11.90 cents per lb by 1425 GMT.

Dealers said strong production in Brazil was keeping the market well supplied while the prospect of more subsidized exports from India in the 2020/21 season was also contributing to a bearish outlook on fundamentals.

They also noted the market's recent weakness could prompt some funds to scale back long positions.

"We continue to be wary of momentum investors returning to sell their substantial long position," Commonwealth Bank of Australia analyst Tobin Gorey said in a note.

October white sugar fell $3.00, or 0.8%, to $355 a tonne.

Dealers said a small delivery was expected against the October white contract, which expires on Sept. 15.

COFFEE

December arabica coffee rose 3.65 cents, or 2.8%, to $1.3250 per lb, climbing back up towards an 8-month high of $1.34 set on Sept. 4.

The market continued to draw support from low exchange stocks, which remain around a 20-year low.

Brazil's 2020 coffee crop estimate was revised up to 59.6 million 60-kg bags from a forecast of 59 million bags in August, according to government statistics agency IBGE on Thursday.

November robusta coffee rose $17, or 1.2%, to $1,433 a tonne.

Coffee trading in Vietnam was sluggish this week due to low stockpiles and prices ticking up, traders said on Thursday, while supplies remained abundant in Indonesia.

COCOA

December London cocoa was up 20 pounds, or 1.1%, at 1,800 pounds per tonne.

December New York cocoa was up $15, or 0.6%, at $2,577 a tonne.

Ivory coast plans to increase the fixed farm gate price paid to cocoa farmers by over 21% to 1,000 CFA Francs ($1.84) per kilogram in the 2020/2021 season, sources from the country's Coffee and Cocoa Council (CCC) said on Thursday.