NEW YORK/LONDON: Raw sugar futures rose to the highest level in nearly three months on Monday, extending the prior session's rally above technical buy signals while traders focused on increased cane processing to ethanol rather than sugar in Brazil.
The raw sugar, arabica coffee and New York cocoa markets will each open one hour later than usual this week due to the end of British Summer Time.
SUGAR
March raw sugar settled up 0.1 cent, or 0.7 percent, at 14.73 cents per lb, after reaching 14.82 cents, the highest for the spot contract since Aug. 3.
Total open interest jumped by nearly 9,000 contracts to 725,927 contracts on Friday, when the March contract rallied 3.7 percent, exchange data showed.
"Relatively stronger ethanol prices will help absorb a portion of the sugar surplus that the market is forecasting for the next season," ING said in a market note.
Global supplies, however, remained ample ahead of the Thai harvest, with the No. 2 sugar exporter potentially poised for stronger cane output in 2017/18 than previously expected.
"Higher sugarcane prices in the last season are likely to have increased the area under sugarcane cultivation," Tropical Research Services said in a market update, noting above-average rains had also been beneficial to yields.
"With supply set to remain abundant, our forecast of a small rise in prices next year is premised on higher ethanol rather than sugar production in Brazil," said Capital Economics in a note, pegging raw sugar futures at 15.5 cents in 2018 and 17 cents in 2019.
December white sugar settled up $2.60, or 0.7 percent, at $383.50 per tonne.
COCOA
December London cocoa settled down 2 pounds, or 0.1 percent, at 1,571 pounds per tonne.
Cocoa arrivals at ports in top grower Ivory Coast were so far 18 percent below the year-ago period for the season that started Oct. 1, exporters estimated.
March New York cocoa settled up $7, or 0.3 percent, at $2,111 per tonne.
COFFEE
December arabica coffee settled down 0.7 cent, or 0.6 percent, at $1.259 per lb, consolidating after Friday's short-covering rally.
Total open interest fell for the first time in 15 sessions to 239,061 lots on Friday, taking it slightly below the Oct. 26 record high of 240,089 lots, ICE data showed.
January robusta coffee settled down $34, or 1.8 percent, at $1,910 per tonne.
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