Raw sugar futures rose to a two-month high on Wednesday, boosted by fund short covering, while cocoa regained much of the prior session's losses. March raw sugar settled up 0.01 cent, or 0.1 percent, at 13.17 cents per lb after touching 13.27 cents, the highest since Nov. 5. The recent run-up in prices has been driven by fund short covering against the backdrop of higher oil prices and a strengthening Brazilian real, dealers said.
Total open interest has fallen for the past five sessions, dropping to a nearly two-week low of 890,199 on Tuesday, ICE data show. March white sugar settled down $1, or 0.3 percent, at $353.8 per tonne. March New York cocoa settled up $48, or 2.1 percent, at $2,322 per tonne, clawing back some of the previous session's losses.
May London cocoa settled up 15 pounds, or 0.8 percent, at 1,705 pounds a tonne. In the prior session, the contract slid to a nearly four-week low of 1,674 pounds. Europe's fourth-quarter cocoa grind rose 1.6 percent from the same period last year to 359,103 tonnes, the Brussels-based European Cocoa Association said. Trader estimates had averaged around 3.0 percent.
Europe's grind grew by 4.2 percent for the whole of 2018. March arabica coffee settled up 1.1 cent, or 1.1 percent, at $1.024 per lb. The contract largely erased the prior session's losses, when it dipped to $1.0040. March robusta coffee settled up $12, or 0.8 percent, at $1,539 per tonne.
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