Sugar hits 3-1/2 weeks low, cocoa falls

Sugar futures fell to a 3-1/2 week low on Friday, pressured by technical pressure and ample global supplies, while gains in the British pound weighed on London cocoa prices. New York soft commodities markets will be closed on Monday, Jan. 15, for the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday.
March white sugar was down $5.10, or 1.4 percent, at $371.80 a tonne by 1500 GMT after falling to $371.40, its lowest since Dec. 19. The market was partly pressured by weaker technicals, after prices slumped below the 40-day and 100-day moving averages this week.
Dealers also said expectations for record production from Thailand was adding pressure, with the whites market vulnerable to producer hedging. "It is not surprising, therefore, that Thai producers have stepped up selling programmes in the face of competition from Brazilian millers also keen to price," Nick Penney, senior trader at Sucden Financial, said in a market note.
March raw sugar was down 0.2 cents, or 1.4 percent, at 13.98 cents per lb, after also touching its lowest level since Dec. 19. Brazil's centre-south region produced 111,000 tonnes of sugar in the second half of December, compared with 506,000 in the previous two-week period, cane industry group Unica said on Friday.
March London cocoa fell 18 pounds, or 1.3 percent, to 1,378 pounds a tonne. Dealers pointed to currency pressure as the British pound hit an 18-month peak on Friday.
"The currency move here, with the pound popping up to a high, is weighing on London," one dealer said. "And New York doesn't seem to be in a mood to move higher either." March New York cocoa fell $17, or 0.9 percent, to $1,911 a tonne.
However, dealers were expecting fourth-quarter grind data from Europe and North America next week to show an uptick in demand. Europe's grind numbers, due out on Monday, are seen rising 2-5 percent, traders said. The North American grind data, expected on Jan. 18, is seen up 1-3 percent.
Thousands of cocoa farmers have fled violence between separatists and security forces in Cameroon's southwest region, which grows more than 100,000 tonnes of beans, nearly half of the country's output. March robusta coffee was up $1, or 0.1 percent, at$1,728 a tonne.
March arabica coffee was down 0.3 cents, or 0.2 percent, at $1.2250 per lb.