Raw sugar jumps to 2-1/2 months top, New York cocoa dips to four-year low

Raw sugar futures on ICE rallied to a 2-1/2-month high on Friday, on support from chart-based buy signals and expectations for demand from top consumer India, while the market made its biggest weekly rise in four weeks.
New York cocoa prices crept down to the lowest in four years, as abundant supplies attracted speculative selling, while coffee futures were mixed.
March raw sugar futures settled up 0.56 cent, or 2.7 percent, at 21.11 cents per lb, attracting a flurry of buying around the settlement window that triggered buy stops above the key level of 21 cents. This took prices to 21.4 cents, the highest since mid-November for the spot contract, which closed the week up 3.8 percent.
"It's partly technical; there's investor interest. It's partially expectation that India could do something," Michael McDougall, director of commodities for Societe Generale in New York, referring to potential that the country could lower import duties later this year.
"And now, with a lower stocks-to-use ratio, the market is much more sensitive to any increase in demand or potential supply disruptions."
May white sugar settled up $8.80, or 1.6 percent, at $555.70 per tonne. Cocoa futures extended losses, with March New York settling down $12, or 0.6 percent, at $2,072 per tonne, after falling to a low of $2,052, its weakest since March 2013.
"The trend is down. (There is) plenty of cocoa around so no concern there and industry is well covered," said one cocoa trader.
March London cocoa closed flat at 1,687 pounds per tonne, holding close to the prior session's 2013 low.
Robusta coffee futures fell to a three-week low on Friday as weak chart-based signals combined with forecasts for rain in Brazil's Minas Gerais region prompted selling by speculators, traders said.
March robusta coffee futures settled down $8, or 0.4 percent, at $2,177 per tonne, after falling to $2,146, the lowest since January 11. "It's very much a fund-driven collapse at the moment," said one dealer. "They're reducing their net long exposure. They have been for the last couple of days now."
March arabica coffee futures settled up 0.3 cent, or 0.2 percent, at $1.4625 per lb, after falling to the lowest since January 10 at $1.447. A Reuters poll of 14 traders and analysts forecast on Friday spot robusta futures would rise to $2,250 per tonne and arabica to $1.545 per lb by the end of the first quarter.