London sugar mixed

London sugar futures settled mixed on Friday after a session dominated by spread trades, with attention focused on the launch of electronic trading of agricultural commodities in New York. Benchmark March finished up a marginal $0.80 a tonne at $341.00 after trading in a narrow range of $342.30 to $340.00 while May ended down $2.50 at $329.70.
Total volume was a slightly above average 7,959 lots. Traders said volume had been boosted by heavy spread activity, especially March-May and brisk turnover in Against Actuals and arbitrage, with a widening spread between London and New York March contracts standing at around $107-108. London traders kept a close eye on the electronic launch of trade in agricultural commodities on Friday and said it appeared to have started well.
Russia refined 220,300 tonnes of white sugar from imported raws in January 2007, 143 percent more than a year earlier, the Russian Sugar Producers' Union said on Friday.
Ukraine's sugar producers must halve output in 2007 to avoid crippling losses after a 37 percent jump in production last year flooded the market with sugar and higher gas prices raised costs, the head of the largest refiner said. Ulrich Noehle has resigned as CEO of Germany's second largest sugar refiner Nordzucker, the company said in a statement on Friday.
COFFEE WEAKENS: London robusta coffee futures turned lower just before the close on speculative position-covering and weakness in New York, after spending most of Friday in positive territory, dealers said. Spot Marchled the decline, closing below $1,600 a tonne for the first time since Tuesday. It dropped $8 or half of one percent to $1,595 a tonne. Benchmark May lost $4 to $1,589. Traded volume was 13,473 lots, slightly lower than the 100-day average of 14,350.
COCOA STEADIES: London cocoa futures finished little changed on Friday as speculative buying helped to offset the impact of weaker prices in New York, dealers said.
March finished down one pound at 892 pounds a tonne after trading in a narrow range of 902 to 886 pounds. May ended one pound lower at 909. Total volume was a lighter-than-normal 6,118 lots. "There's been spec buying which has given the market a little bit of support," one dealer said, adding the strength of the dollar had contributed to weakness in New York.
Another dealer said it was hard to say if the latest reports of rains in West Africa would make a big difference to development of the mid-crop after a prolonged dry period. Long-awaited showers fell in several of the Ivory Coast's main cocoa-producing regions, farmers said on Thursday, easing a week-long dry spell that has made growers anxious about output.
The first morning of side-by-side commodity trading at the New York Board of Trade got off to an energetic start on Friday, despite some reported glitches in early screen dealings which was soon followed by open-outcry trade.