LONDON: Raw sugar futures rose on Thursday, buoyed partly by gains in energy markets, while coffee and cocoa prices were also higher.

Sugar

May raw sugar rose 0.5% to 19.69 cents per lb by 1145 GMT, climbing back up towards Tuesday’s one-month high of 19.81 cents.

Dealers said gains in energy prices were supportive with the current high price of hydrous ethanol in Brazil likely to lead to more use of cane to produce the biofuel, curbing output of sugar.

May white sugar rose 0.7% to $549.30 a tonne.

After two years of lull, India’s sugar consumption is set to hit record highs in the current summer season as demand from bulk consumers such as cold drink and ice cream-makers rises after the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions, industry officials said.

Raw sugar prices edge up while coffee and cocoa weaken

Coffee

July robusta coffee rose 0.4% to $2,099 a tonne, edging away from the prior session’s three-week low of $2,071.

Dealers said the robusta market remained on the defensive with supplies currently ample, buoyed by strong exports from top robusta producer Vietnam, while concerns persist that the conflict in Ukraine could curb demand.

Vietnam exported 581,693 tonnes of coffee in the first quarter, up 28.3% from the same period a year earlier, government customs data released on Thursday showed.

May arabica coffee rose 0.8% to $2.2950 per lb.

Cocoa

July London cocoa was up 0.9% at 1,777 pounds a tonne as the market continued to derive support from a poor crop in number two producer Ghana this season.

Ghana’s graded and sealed cocoa arrivals stood at 524,000 tonnes by March 31 since the start of this year’s harvest on Oct. 1, down 34% from 791,000 tonnes in same period the previous season, figures from marketing board COCOBOD showed on Thursday.

July New York cocoa rose 0.65% to $2,622 a tonne.