NEW YORK/LONDON: Raw sugar futures on ICE fell on Friday as wetter weather in Brazil improved the supply outlook in the top grower, while arabica coffee climbed to settle above $1 a pound.SB
SUGAR
* May raw sugar settled down 0.16 cent, or 1.3 percent, at 12.62 cents per lb.
* On the week, the contract shed 5.1 percent, its biggest weekly decline since November.
* Sugar prices were pressured by improving, wetter weather conditions in top grower Brazil. Seasonal expectations that fresh supplies from the country would soon be hitting the market also weighed, dealers said.
* Prices were also pressured by a weaker Brazilian currency , dealers said, as traders sold the currency to trim exposure ahead of market holidays next week.
* A weaker real boosts dollar-denominated prices in local currency terms and can encourage producer selling.
* The market was also absorbing news that more than one million tonnes of raw sugar would be delivered against the March contract. This was larger than some traders had expected.
* "It reaffirmed that there is more sugar around than some people thought," one US trader said of the delivery.
* May white sugar settled down $3.60, or 1 percent, at $344.40 per tonne.
COFFEE
* May arabica coffee settled up 1.75 cent, or 1.8 percent, at $1.002 per lb, in part on short covering, dealers said.
* This was the first time the contract settled above the psychologically significant $1 mark since Feb. 20.
* Dealers noted the unusual rise in arabica prices while the Brazilian real fell, as the two often move in tandem.
* Reports of coffee rust disease in top grower Brazil and early flowering in the country due to dry conditions in December and January are supporting prices, said Shawn Hackett, president of Hackett Financial Advisors.
* On the week, the contract rose 0.2 percent, following four weeks of declines.
* May robusta coffee settled down $3, or 0.2 percent, at $1,534 per tonne.
* Global coffee exports rose 2.6 percent year on year in January to 11.06 million 60 kg bags, data from the International Coffee Organization showed.
COCOA
* May New York cocoa settled down $30, or 1.3 percent, at $2,217 per tonne.
* On the week, the contract shed 3.1 percent, its seventh negative finish in the past ten weeks.
* May London cocoa settled down 11 pounds, or 0.7 percent, at 1,672 pounds per tonne.
* The International Cocoa Organization (ICCO) on Thursday forecast there would be a global cocoa surplus of 39,000 tonnes in the 2018/19 season.
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