Raw sugar futures on ICE rose on Tuesday as oil prices recovered on production cut pledges, though weakness in the Brazilian real and worries over steep consumption falls amid the coronavirus pandemic kept gains in check.
Coffee and cocoa fell meanwhile.
July raw sugar rose 0.1 cent, or 1.1%, to 10.23 cents per lb by 1457 GMT. The contract hit a 12-1/2-year low the week before last.
Oil prices rose, boosted by an unexpected commitment from Saudi Arabia to deepen production cuts in June to help drain a supply glut built up amid the coronavirus crisis.
Rising energy prices can deter cane mills in top producer Brazil from ramping up sugar output at the expense of ethanol, a cane-based biofuel.
Commonwealth Bank of Australia noted sugar was falling back towards 10 cents, with Brazil's demand for ethanol recovering very modestly after having halved due to coronavirus lockdowns.
Brazilian mills in the centre-south produced 2.01 million tonnes of sugar in the second half of April, 93% more than a year earlier, as ethanol sales plunge in the local market, industry group Unica said.
A weak real raises local currency returns for exporters selling dollar-priced sugar.
The French farm ministry put its 2020 sugar beet area estimate at 424,000 hectares, down 5% from last year, citing the closure of four sugar production plants in France.
August white sugar was up $4.3, or 1.3%, at $345.20 a tonne.
July arabica coffee slid 3.9 cents, or 3.5%, to $1.0685 per lb.
July robusta coffee fell $10, or 0.8%, to $1,188 a tonne.
July New York cocoa was down $76, or 3.1%, at $2,387 a tonne, reversing course after earlier hitting its highest in a month. July London cocoa fell 63 pounds, or 3.2%, to 1,918 pounds a tonne.
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