LONDON: Raw sugar prices slipped lower on Monday as a stronger dollar weighed, although near-term supply tightness limited losses. Coffee and cocoa also fell.
May raw sugar was down 0.1% at 16.11 cents per lb at 1520 GMT, extending four consecutive weeks of falls.
The dollar index rose, making dollar-priced sugar costlier for non-US investors.
Sugar is consolidating following its surge earlier this year, although a poor harvest in Thailand, slow Indian exports and uncertainty over the upcoming Brazilian crop is limiting losses.
“We sense consensus is shifting to the bullish side. (With) the beginning of the new Brazil harvest, we will learn how much damage has been done by sub-average rainfall,” said Marex Spectron in a note.
May white sugar fell 0.2% to $458.60 a tonne.
A Syrian state agency has issued an international tender to purchase and import about 85,000 tonnes of refined white sugar, European traders said.
May arabica coffee fell 1.1% to $1.3155 per lb, following two weeks of consecutive gains.
Brazil’s real currency fell sharply versus the dollar, deterring producers from selling by lowering returns in local currency terms in Brazil.
Arabica is being underpinned by worries over the size of the upcoming crop in Brazil, however.
May robusta coffee fell 0.9% to $1,390 a tonne.
May London cocoa fell 1.3% to 1,746 pounds per tonne.
May New York cocoa fell 1.8% to $2,525 a tonne.
Cocoa prices are steadying after hitting three-month highs in early March. Fundamentals remain bearish, with a global surplus forecast for the current season.
Weather forecasters Climate24 said they expect above average rains in April and May across the African cocoa belt.
Ivory Coast cocoa grinders had processed 244,000 tonnes of beans by the end of February, up from 235,000 tonnes last season.
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