LONDON: Raw sugar futures rose on Friday, resuming its advance after a setback the previous session, while a weaker pound boosted London cocoa prices.
SUGAR
March raw sugar was up 0.10 cent, or 0.7 percent, at 13.68 cents per lb at 1428 GMT with the market on track for a third consecutive weekly gain.
Dealers said March had moved to a small premium to May, making it less attractive to hold on to supplies.
White sugar's premium to the raw product, a measure of the profitability of refining, remained weak although prices rose slightly on Friday.
"The futures continue to offer little by way of incentive to carry or refine raw sugar," Commonwealth Bank of Australia analyst Tobin Gorey said in a market note.
March white sugar rose $4.50, or 1.3 percent, to $355.30 per tonne, rebounding slightly after setting a contract low of $349.90 a tonne on Thursday.
The front month, which expires on Tuesday, had an open interest of 14,080 lots at the close of business on Thursday.
"It seems unlikely with three sessions to go the delivery will be large," said Tom Kujawa, co-head of the Softs Department at Sucden Financial.
COCOA
March New York cocoa fell $6, or 0.3 percent, to $2,028 a tonne with the contract on track for a weekly loss for the first time this year.
Dealers said a short covering rally appeared to have stalled against a backdrop of plentiful global supplies with a second consecutive global surplus generally expected in the 2017/18 season.
Ecobank, in a report on Friday, forecast an Ivory Coast cocoa crop this season of 1.9 million tonnes, marginally below last season's estimate of 2.0 million.
The bank also forecast an average cocoa price of $1,950 a tonne in 2018.
May London cocoa was up 10 pounds, or 0.7 percent at 1,470 pounds a tonne, buoyed by a weak pound.
COFFEE
March arabica coffee was up 0.65 cents, or 0.5 percent, at $1.2340 per lb.
Dealers said selling by Brazilian producers continued to cap the upside potential with a large crop expected this year in the world's top grower.
Brazil exported 2.327 million 60-kg bags of green coffee in January, down 5.1 percent from a year earlier, exporters association Cecaf? said on Friday, adding that this had been expected.
"We believe exports will continue at a slow pace until the new harvest starts coming in," said Cecaf? President Nelson Carvalhaes, adding that Brazil was expecting a good crop this season after abundant rains.
March robusta coffee was up $12, or 0.7 percent at $1,805 a tonne.
Comments
Comments are closed.