LONDON: Raw sugar futures on ICE hit their lowest in more than a month on Thursday, taking their cue from lower oil prices, while coffee prices gained.
SUGAR Raw sugar fell 0.7percent to 13.82 cents per lb at 1147 GMT, having earlier hit its lowest since late April at 13.81. Oil prices fell, following earlier gains triggered by the recent escalation of hostilities between the US and Iran, as traders assessed the actual impact on supply disruptions. Lower oil prices are bearish for sugar because they encourage cane mills to favour sugar output over ethanol, a biofuel typically made from cane or corn.
“This market weakness is flying in the face of signs that El Nino has begun to arrive. Heavy rain is expected in southern Brazil. The cane harvest in Argentina has been disrupted for days due to heavy rain,” said consultant and broker Michael McDougall.
White sugar edged up 0.3percent to USD445 a metric ton.
COFFEE
Arabica coffee rose 1.5percent to USD2.5220 per lb. The market slumped to a 1-1/2-year low of USD2.4270 on Tuesday. The market’s overall focus remained on Brazil’s harvest with a near-record crop expected, but showers are set to slow progress in some areas this week.
Cooxupe, Brazil’s largest coffee co-operative, said on Wednesday that its farmers had harvested 12percent of their 2026 crop as of June 5, below the 13.7percent reported at the same time last year.
Robusta coffee gained 1.7percent to USD3,412 a metric ton.
COCOA
London cocoa edged up 0.2percent to £2,881 a ton. Dealers said heavy rains have been reported in No. 3 grower Ecuador as the El Nino weather pattern starts to form.
The weather pattern is denting the outlook for the 2026/27 crop, but for now, cocoa port arrivals in top grower Ivory Coast are picking up pace and there is a generally favourable outlook for the rest of the 2025/26 mid-crop. New York cocoa fell 0.4percent to USD3,744 a ton.
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