LONDON: Arabica coffee futures on ICE rose on Thursday after closing the previous session sharply lower on forecasts indicating Brazil could receive much-needed rains over the next few days.

London cocoa hit its highest since mid-March while sugar also gained.

Coffee

December arabica coffee was up 1.2% at $1.9575 per lb by 1443 GMT, having fallen 2.6% on Wednesday.

Dealers cited forecasts predicting that Brazil's coffee areas will receive some rain Saturday through Monday and again over Oct. 7-9, with sporadic showers expected at other times.

The rains are crucial to ensure flowering of next year's crop, which has been hit hard by drought and frosts this year.

November robusta coffee rose 0.8% to $2,132 a tonne.

Prices in top robusta producer Vietnam fell slightly from last week as the country slowly emerges from coronavirus lockdowns.

Vietnam's coffee exports in September were estimated up 20.3% from a year earlier, though exports in the first nine months are seen down 4.2%, official data showed.

Raw sugar recovers after hitting near two-month low

Sugar

October raw sugar, which expires later this session, rose 0.4% to 19.02cents per lb.

Dealers said a small delivery of about 250,000 tonnes is expected against the October contract.

They added that Brazilian sugar exports are expected to fall sharply after the recent price spike, indicating poor demand, though the market remains underpinned by falling supplies from Brazil, both for this season and next.

December white sugar rose 0.5% to $507.40 a tonne.

The lowest price offered in an international tender to buy 50,000 tonnes of white sugar from Pakistan was believed to be $692.00 a tonne c&f, European traders said. No purchase has yet been reported.

Cocoa

December New York cocoa rose 2.3% to $2,649 a tonne.

Concerns about 2022 availability are supporting cocoa.

December London cocoa rose 1.7% to 1,871 pounds a tonne, having hit its highest since mid-March at 1,874 pounds.