Raw sugar futures rallied over 7 percent early on Thursday on fund buying, closing in on a recent seven-month high, buoyed by a softer dollar, while arabicas eased and remained far off a 13-year high touched last month. Cocoa gained after an independent analyst talked of black pod disease harming West African new crops, on expectations of a slightly positive European Q3 grind to be released next week and due to nervousness over elections in Ivory Coast, dealers said.
ICE March raw sugar futures jumped 1.74 cent or 7.4 percent at 25.29 cents a lb at 1508 GMT, having earlier surged to a session high of 25.41 cents. December arabica futures stood 1.35 cent or 0.8 percent lower at $1.7420 per lb. The contract traded as high as $1.9865 in early September. ICE December cocoa was up $25 or 0.95 percent at $2,769 per tonne.