New York ICE sugar futures on Thursday hit a one-month low, pressured by a strengthening dollar and plentiful nearby supplies, while arabica coffee eased with a focus on the impact of rains on production in Brazil. Cocoa futures held steady, weighed by ample new crop supplies from West Africa, the main growing region. In sugar, dealers said that a report that Pakistani supplies could hit the world market had contributed to pushing sugar values towards session lows.
Pakistan's sugar producers have asked the government to allow exports of up to 1.5 million tonnes of sugar to compete with India, which is extending incentives for exports of the sweetener. ICE March raw sugar futures were down 0.03 cents or 0.2 percent to 15.48 cents a lb at 1451 GMT, after touching a one-month low of 15.44 cents, pressured by the strengthening dollar. A stronger dollar makes commodities more expensive in terms of other currencies.
December white sugar traded flat at $415.00 a tonne. "The chat around the market continues to be very bearish with concerns of the possibility of future dollar strength," said Thomas Kujawa, co-head of the softs desk of Sucden Financial Sugar. "Which way for the next 50 points? 15.00 or 16.00 cents? It seems more likely lower." ICE arabica futures eased, weighed by the stronger dollar, with a focus on whether spring rains can ease stress on parched coffee growing areas in Brazil.
"The difficulty is in trying to quantify the impact of the recent dry weather on next year's Brazil crop," a London-based coffee futures broker said. Scattered showers were expected on Thursday in Brazil's southern Minas Gerais and northern Sao Paulo coffee areas as well as in parts of top soy-growing state Mato Grosso, Somar meteorologists said. March arabica coffee eased 1.20 cents, or 0.6 percent, to trade at $1.8935 a lb. January robusta coffee fell $6, or 0.3 percent, trading at $2,020 a tonne.
New York cocoa held steady, near Tuesday's 5-1/2 month low, pressured by a strong crop in top producer Ivory Coast. New York March cocoa was up $2 or 0.1 percent at $2,872 a tonne, having dropped to $2,853 a tonne on Tuesday, its lowest level for the second position since May. Barry Callebaut CFO Victor Balli said cocoa prices were now coming down to more appropriate levels after having been pushed up by concerns over Ebola and a possibly poor harvest in west Africa. "It's too early to say whether we'll have a cocoa bean surplus this year, but we're expecting a good to very good harvest in Ivory Coast," he said. London March cocoa futures were up 10 pounds or 0.5 percent to 1,888 pounds per tonne.
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