Raw sugar falls

Raw sugar futures on ICE fell on late-day selling on Friday, after harvest-hampering rainfall in Brazil and the country's rising currency lifted prices to a 10-month high, while London cocoa extended gains to the highest since early 2011. Arabica coffee futures rose to a six-year high, also in thin trade supported by earlier strength in the Brazilian real, while robusta steadied.
Raw sugar futures fell late in the session with March closing down 0.1 cent, or 0.6 percent, at 15.48 cents per lb, having touched a peak of 15.85 cents. Rains in Brazil spooked commercial players into covering their short positions for much of the session, as US broker said. The most recent data for the week ending November 24 showed commercials held their biggest gross short position in futures and options since 2008. Demand for cane-based ethanol was also supportive, he said.
Rains in Brazil's sugar belt were seen hampering cane harvest and eroding sugar content, traders said. Nick Penney, a senior trader with Sucden Financial Sugar, said: "We continue cautiously bullish of the market but expect further resistance at 16 cents before eventually moving higher in the long run." The world sugar market has rallied as it shifts into a deficit after years of surpluses. ICE March white sugar futures settled down $2, or 0.5 percent, at $415 per tonne.
ICE March arabica coffee settled up 2.1 cent, or 1.7 percent, at $1.2695 per lb. January robusta coffee settled down $1, or 0.1 percent, at $1,536 per tonne. "People are talking about a bumper crop in Vietnam and a huge carryover," a senior London-based broker said.
Vietnam is the world's biggest robusta producer. March London cocoa settled up 4 pounds, or 0.2 percent, at 2,313 pounds per tonne, after touching the highest since March 2011 at 2,320 pounds. The market has been boosted by a slowdown in weekly port arrivals in top grower Ivory Coast while the weak pound against the US dollar provided the London market with some support.
Cocoa spreads narrowed slightly after the London spot spread touched a contract low on Thursday and the New York March/May spread's premium jumped to a one-month high. March New York cocoa settled up $4, or 0.1 percent, at $3,390 per tonne, not far from the November 20 high of $3,420. Total open interest rose to 249,207 lots on Thursday as prices rallied, resuming its climb to a record high, exchange data showed.