LONDON: Raw sugar futures pulled further away from last week's 15-month low on Wednesday while arabica coffee recouped some of the previous day's losses. SUGAR
July raw sugar was up 0.08 cents, or 0.57 percent, at 14.06 cents per lb by 1421 GMT, after touching a session high of 14.32 cents.
"The market might need several more days of this (slow recovery) before it dispels the impression it is still teetering on the edge of a cliff," Commonwealth Bank of Australia analyst Tobin Gorey said in a market note.
Dealers said the market was monitoring weather in Brazil, where forecasts for further rains could lead to short-term disruptions to production in pockets of the cane region.
The low prices have also spurred some industry buying and fuelled expectations that Brazilian producers could start favouring ethanol over sugar.
"The ethanol parity is now at 13 cents," said Carlos Mera, senior commodities analyst at Rabobank. "And, I think, 1 cent above that, it will already start incentivising ethanol to some extent. And that's not far from where we are now. We're just on top of that."
August white sugar gained $1.20, or 0.29 percent, to reach $415.10 a tonne.
COFFEE
July arabica coffee rose 0.95 cent, or 0.76 percent, to $1.2650 per lb as the market regained some ground after a weak performance on Tuesday when it fell 2.26 percent.
Dealers said the market continued to keep a close watch on the weather outlook in top producer Brazil with a cold snap expected in the next few days in some areas but no immediate threat to crops anticipated.
July robusta was up $9, or 0.45 percent, at $1,994 a tonne.
COCOA
July New York cocoa fell $12, or 0.6 percent, to $1,963 a tonne while July London cocoa was down 10 pounds, or 0.65 percent, at 1,530 pounds a tonne.
Dealers said the market remained choppy and dominated by speculative activity with producers generally well sold and industry with sufficient cover.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.