LONDON: Raw sugar futures edged away from the prior session's 2-1/2 year low on Thursday while cocoa prices eased on an improving outlook for mid-crop production in Ivory Coast.
Sugar, coffee and cocoa contracts will be closed on Friday.
New York-based raw sugar, arabica coffee and cocoa contracts will open later than normal on Monday while London-based white sugar, robusta coffee and cocoa will not reopen until Tuesday.
SUGAR
May raw sugar was up 0.06 cent, or 0.5 percent, at 12.27 cents per lb at 1428 GMT. The front month dipped to a low of 12.18 cents on Wednesday, its weakest since September 2015.
Dealers noted that India's decision this week to relax rules on sugar exports and allow mills to sell abroad until the end of the current season helped to heighten concerns about a global supply glut.
"Additional sugar is thus likely to reach the amply supplied global market from India in the coming months. No significant price recovery can be expected for the time being, in other words," Commerzbank said in a market note.
Dealers said discounts for nearby delivery had also been widening with October 2018 trading at a large discount of 1.26 cents to March 2019.
"The sharply rising forward curve also points to plentiful supply," Commerzbank added.
May white sugar rose $3.30, or 0.95 percent, to $351.10 a tonne.
COCOA
May London cocoa was down 8 pounds, or 0.45 percent, at 1,788 pounds a tonne.
Dealers said the market was looking to assess the extent to which recent rains had improved the outlook for the mid-crop in Ivory Coast after a lack of rain from November until March stunted pod development
A government spokesman said on Friday that the Ivory Coast mid-crop was expected to reach about 500,000 tonnes, well above the 400,000 tonnes seen recently by a senior source at the Coffee and Cocoa Council.
May New York cocoa fell $12 to $2,587 a tonne.
COFFEE
May robusta coffee was down $1, or 0.1 percent, at $1,728 a tonne.
Dealers said industry buying has helped the market rebound from a low last week of $1,671, the weakest for the second month since June 2016.
Strong exports from top robusta producer Vietnam during the first quarter of 2018 remains a key bearish factor.
May arabica coffee was up 0.35 cent, or 0.3 percent, at $1.1810 per lb.
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