LONDON: Arabica coffee futures on ICE rose for a third consecutive session to their highest in over a week on worries over supplies from top producer Brazil and as ICE stocks continue to plummet.

New York cocoa hit its lowest in nearly a year meanwhile.

Coffee

September arabica coffee rose 2.3% to $2.3555 per lb at 1205 GMT, having hit its highest since June 23 at $2.3575.

Dealers said some 35% of Brazil’s coffee for the current season had been harvested by June 21, a below average pace due to an uneven maturation of fruits and difficulties finding labour in some regions.

ICE certified coffee stocks continued their relentless drawdown to fresh 22 year lows meanwhile.

September robusta coffee rose 0.3% to $2,038 a tonne.

Sugar

August raw sugar fell 0.3% to 18.45 cents per lb, drawing close to a recent 4 month low of 18.20. The July contract expired on Thursday up 1.5% at 18.83 cents per lb.

Dealers said while the expiry was slightly bullish, sugar is being buffeted by outside influences with the macro negative, global recession fears growing and ethanol prices slipping in Brazil.

Deliveries at the July expiry were seen at around 502,000 tonnes, historically not very large, according to preliminary information from traders. ICE will release official data on Friday.

August white sugar fell 0.3% to $555 a tonne.

Cocoa

September New York cocoa fell 0.9% to $2,320 a tonne.

Cocoa is under pressure from worries soaring inflation could slow global growth and dent demand for luxury items like chocolate. Rain in top producer Ivory Coast is meanwhile helping the development of the upcoming main crop.

Barry Callebaut has halted production at its Wieze plant in Belgium, which it says is the world’s biggest chocolate factory, after discovering salmonella in a production lot on Monday, the Swiss chocolate maker said.

September London cocoa rose 0.4% to 1,720 pounds per tonne, having hit a 3-1/2 month low of 1,704.