LONDON: Raw sugar futures on ICE fell in thin volume on Tuesday, pulling back from a two-week high touched in the previous session as short-covering waned, while London cocoa consolidated.
SUGAR
March raw sugar was down 0.05 cents, or 0.4 percent, at 14.26 cents per lb by 1000 GMT, moving away from a two-week high of 14.45 cents hit in the previous session.
Prices defied broader weakness across commodities on Monday and climbed 1.5 percent, despite a large physical delivery against Friday's October expiry that was viewed as bearish by most.
"The market's ability to resist new lows is notable," said Tobin Gorey of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, noting this resistance had drawn out buyers who had previously been waiting for lower prices.
While the short-covering and industry buying seemed to slow on Tuesday, traded volumes were thin and dealers said the market was in consolidation mode.
Participants were monitoring technical signals, especially whether prices would hold above the short-term moving average.
Indonesia's raw sugar consumption for food and beverages is expected to climb to 3.35 million tonnes in 2018 from an estimated 3.2 million tonnes this year, an industry association said on Tuesday.
December white sugar fell $0.20 or 0.05 percent, to $368.90 a tonne.
COCOA
December London cocoa fell 7 pounds, or 0.5 percent, to 1,522 pounds a tonne after touching 1,533 pounds, its highest since Aug. 29.
December New York cocoa slipped $9 or 0.4 percent, to $2,028 a tonne.
Fungal black pod disease is spreading in key cocoa growing regions in top producer Ivory Coast, farmers said on Monday, though abundant rainfall and sunshine are supporting crop development elsewhere.
Asian cocoa demand is likely to grow by about 3 percent to 4 percent during the 2017/18 crop period as compared to global growth of about 2 percent to 3 percent, Harold Poelma, president of Cargill's cocoa and chocolate division, said on Tuesday.
COFFEE
December arabica coffee was up 0.45 cents, or 0.4 percent, at $1.2765 per lb.
Pressured by a stronger dollar and expected crop-friendly rains in Brazil, prices dropped to their weakest since July 12 on Monday, before partially recovering ahead of the close.
Coffee exports from Honduras jumped nearly 40 percent during the 2016-17 harvesting season due to rising production, while coffee shipments from Costa Rica fell about 10 percent, officials in both countries said on Monday.
November robusta coffee was up $5 or 0.3 percent, at $2,012 a tonne.
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