LONDON: Arabica coffee and raw sugar futures on ICE were slightly lower on Thursday, weighed down partly by renewed weakness in Brazil's real currency.
COFFEE
July arabica coffee was 0.25 cents, or 0.3pc, lower at 91.5 cents per lb at 1428 GMT.
Dealers said the market was keeping a close watch on the weather in top producer Brazil with a run-up earlier this week linked to forecasts that temperatures looked set to drop.
"It is just a reminder we are entering the Brazilian winter," one dealer said, noting any threat of crop damaging frost in Brazil would trigger significant short covering.
Weather forecaster Maxar said in its daily coffee report on Wednesday that temperatures look set to trend cooler in Brazil but no frost was expected in major coffee growing areas.
Renewed weakness in Brazil's real currency on Thursday contributed to the modest setback in prices.
Brazil's coffee harvest accelerated in the week to May 21 and has now reached 16pc of the expected total for the season, according to a survey by consultancy Safras & Mercado on Thursday.
July robusta coffee fell $9, or 0.7pc, to $1,352 a tonne.
Persistently low domestic coffee prices in Vietnam have prompted some local growers to switch to other crops, including avocado and durian, traders said on Thursday.
SUGAR
July raw sugar fell 0.1 cent, or 0.9pc, to 11.52 cents per lb, with the weaker Brazil real also a bearish factor.
Cane processing and sugar production in Brazil's main producing region in the first half of May were below levels seen at this time in the previous season, cane industry group Unica said in a report on Thursday.
Dealers said sugar production, at 1.59 million tonnes, was, however, slightly higher than many had expected.
August white sugar was down $1.60, or 0.53pc, at $321.20 a tonne.
COCOA
July London cocoa rose 18 pounds, or 1.0pc, to 1,779 pounds a tonne, buoyed partly by a weaker pound.
Sterling fell again on Thursday as pressure mounted on British Prime Minister Theresa May to name a date for her departure after a backlash over her last-ditch plans for Britain's exit from the European Union.
July New York cocoa was up $17, or 0.7 percent, at $2,430 a tonne.
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