Raw sugar steadies near 14-month peak as oil rally pauses

• March raw sugar was up 0.06 cents, or 0.4%, at 13.65 cents per lb at 1159 GMT, having touched a peak of 13.79 cents on Tuesday, its highest since Oct. 29, 2018.
• March arabica coffee fell 1.25 cents, or 1%, to $1.2110 per lb after touching a one-month low on Tuesday.
• Cocoa may retest resistance at $2,602 per tonne this quarter, a break above which could lead to a gain into a range of $2,742-$2,928.

LONDON: Raw sugar futures on ICE steadied on Wednesday within sight of Tuesday's 14-month high, with crude oil prices up but well below peaks hit in frenzied early trading after a rocket attack by Iran on American forces in Iraq.

Higher energy prices encourage the use of cane to produce the biofuel ethanol rather than sugar.

SUGAR

March raw sugar was up 0.06 cents, or 0.4%, at 13.65 cents per lb at 1159 GMT, having touched a peak of 13.79 cents on Tuesday, its highest since Oct. 29, 2018.

Oil prices steadied, giving up most of their early gains as fears of an immediate Iran-US escalation faded, with tweets by US President Donald Trump and Iran's foreign minister appearing to signal a period of calm - for now.

Dealers said sugar is attempting to consolidate above 13.50, with funds more likely to buy than sell and with production set to fall in most regions. Still, ample stocks and tepid demand are keeping price gains in check.

March white sugar rose $1.90, or 0.5%, to $365 a tonne.

COFFEE

March arabica coffee fell 1.25 cents, or 1%, to $1.2110 per lb after touching a one-month low on Tuesday.

Arabica is retreating after hitting a more than two-year high on Dec. 17, with technical momentum growing increasingly bearish.

Luckin Coffee is expanding into vending machines that sell freshly brewed hot beverages and snacks, seeking even more of the China market after overtaking Starbucks as the country's biggest coffee chain.

March robusta coffee fell $11, or 0.8%, to $1,353 a tonne.

"Vietnam's harvest is going well, there's not much change from last year's big crop, so there's a lot of hedge pressure," said a dealer.

Robusta has sharply underperformed arabica, falling 9% last year versus arabica's 27% surge.

COCOA

March New York cocoa rose $1, or 0.04%, to $2,534 a tonne, having settled up 2% on Tuesday.

Cocoa may retest resistance at $2,602 per tonne this quarter, a break above which could lead to a gain into a range of $2,742-$2,928.

March London cocoa rose 2 pounds, or 0.1%, to 1,825 pounds a tonne, having settled up 1.9% on Tuesday.