Raw sugar edges higher while arabica coffee also gains

LONDON: Raw sugar futures on ICE were higher on Wednesday, edging away from the previous session's three-month low, while arabica coffee turned higher after dipping to a two-week low.

SUGAR

May raw sugar rose by 0.02 cents, or 0.1%, to 15.45 cents per lb by 1520 GMT. The front-month contract slid to a three-month low of 15.05 cents on Tuesday.

Dealers said trade buying had helped the market to claw back some of the recent losses, with an expected slow start to the harvest in top exporter Brazil also helping to underpin prices.

Port congestion in Brazil should also slow the flow of shipments out of the country in the coming weeks.

"The only near-term support would seem to be the clog at Brazil's ports. A slow soybean harvest means the bean export window is very likely to nudge its way into the start of the sugar export window," said Commonwealth Bank of Australia analyst Tobin Gorey.

May white sugar rose by $4.40, or 1%, to $444.90 a tonne.

Suedzucker, Europe's largest sugar producer, on Wednesday reported a rise in full-year profit after losses were cut in its core sugar sector.

COFFEE

May arabica coffee rose by 0.15 cents, or 0.1%, to $1.2775 per lb after dipping to a two-week low of $1.2650.

Dealers said concerns about weak demand, particularly for arabica coffee, should keep a lid on prices, with COVID-19 lockdowns in major consumers such as Germany and France set to curb out-of-home consumption.

May robusta coffee was unchanged at $1,377 a tonne.

Green coffee stocks held in major European ports rose 1% during December 2020, European Coffee Federation (ECF) data showed on Wednesday.

COCOA

May New York cocoa fell by $22, or 0.9%, to $2,425 a tonne, pressured by concern that the latest COVID-19 restrictions in Europe could curb demand.

May London cocoa rose by 2 pounds, or 0.1%, to 1,716 pounds a tonne, underpinned by weakness in the British currency.