LONDON: Raw sugar steadied on Tuesday after hitting a 1-1/2 week low as investors await the upcoming crop in top producer Brazil, while coffee edged higher.
Sugar
Raw sugar rose 0.9% to 19.43 cents per lb at 1257 GMT, having hit its lowest in a week and a half at 19.20 cents earlier.
White sugar was little changed at $542.80 a ton.
Concerns are easing over a delayed start to the 2025/26 (April-to-May) crop in top producer Brazil, and weather forecasts point to some rain in the next week or two, which could be beneficial to the crop.
Limiting losses in sugar however are lingering fears that No. 2 producer India will restrict sugar exports amid signs the current crop will disappoint.
Raw sugar prices ease, focus on March expiry
Coffee
Arabica coffee rose 1.1% to $3.9170 per lb, still some way off record levels above $4 per lb hit in February.
Dealers said while speculators have recently been trimming their net long position, they expect that they will soon re-engage with coffee and buy up contracts.
Rabobank said in a report that despite some recent and forecast rains for the rest of the month, average March rainfall will likely come near the bottom of the historical range.
“Dry weather until the start of the 2024/25 harvest could lead to further reductions in 2025/26 production and to subpar branch growth for 2026/27,” it said.
Robusta coffee rose 1% to $5,556 a ton.
Cocoa
London cocoa fell 1% to 6,254 pounds per metric ton, still some way off last week’s four-month low of 5,969 pounds.
New York cocoa was little changed at $8,082 a ton.
Cocoa arrivals at ports in top grower Ivory Coast since the season start on October 1 to March 23 increased 11.5% versus the same period last season, exporters estimated.
Going forward however, the Ivorian mid-crop is expected to fall by around 40%, according to exporters and pod-counters who spoke to Reuters.
This is limiting losses in cocoa, dealers said, as are near-term technical indicators pointing to tightening supplies.
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