LONDON: Raw sugar futures on ICE edged higher on Wednesday, underpinned by disruption to the cane harvest in Centre-South Brazil caused by recent rains, while arabica coffee prices eased.

SUGAR: March raw sugar rose 0.1% to 19.41 cents per lb by 1505 GMT.

Most mills in Brazil’s main centre-south sugarcane region are ending cane crushing for the season, leaving millions of tonnes of cane in the fields to be harvested next year, as rains make harvesting operations difficult and inefficient.

Lower gasoline prices in Brazil, however, helped to limit gains, potentially boosting the use of cane to produce sugar rather than biofuel ethanol.