Raw sugar tumbles

Raw sugar futures on ICE slumped nearly 5 percent to a six-year low on Friday, while coffee fell to the lowest in more than 13 months, weighed down as top grower Brazil's currency sank to its weakest in 12 years against the dollar. New York cocoa fell for an eighth straight day, finding support at a key technical level, while London cocoa rose, lifting its premium over the New York market.
The weak Brazilian currency boosts incentives for producers there to lock in local-currency returns from dollar-denominated sugar and coffee sales. Front-month May raw sugar futures settled down 0.51 cent, or 3.9 percent, at 12.70 cents a lb, its biggest tumble since January 23. This came after it fell 4.8 percent to the lowest for the spot contract since April 2009 at 12.57 cents.
Total volume exceeded 175,000 lots, up 80 percent from the 250-day average, preliminary Thomson Reuters data showed. "This is real-related and technical as well. Thirteen (cents) was a support level," said Michael McDougall, senior director of the Brazil desk for Societe Generale in New York. "This shows people are not priced, and there's desperation."
The spot raw sugar contract closed the week down 5.5 percent, the fourth straight week lower and its biggest weekly loss since September 2014. May white sugar closed down $8.40, or 2.3 percent, at $362.70 a tonne. Robusta coffee futures dropped $60, or 3.4 percent, to close at $1,708 per tonne after falling to $1,685, the lowest since January 2014.
Arabica futures also fell on pressure from the real's weakness. May arabica futures finished down 2.4 cents, or 1.8 percent, at $1.298 per lb. The second position closed the week down 7.2 percent, its fifth straight week down. Total open interest rose for the ninth straight session to 196,384 lots on March 12, the highest since February 2008, exchange data showed.
New York May cocoa settled down $20, or 0.7 percent, at $2,818 a tonne in heavy volume, marking a weekly fall of 4.3 percent, its second straight drop. Total open interest fell to 208,541 lots on Thursday, falling for the fifth session. The contract found support at the 61.8 percent Fibonacci retracement level back down toward the February low just above $2,800. May London cocoa rose 5 pounds, or 0.3 percent, at 1,994 pounds a tonne, supported by the weak sterling.