Raw sugar sets fresh 1-1/2-month high; cocoa, coffee slip

NEW YORK/LONDON: Raw sugar prices on ICE rose on Friday to hit a fresh 1-1/2-month high, underpinned by expectations of strong ethanol demand and reduced Indian production, while cocoa and coffee prices slipped.

COCOA

* September London cocoa settled down 5 pounds, or 0.3%, at 1,845 pounds per tonne, with the market consolidating after its recent rally.

* On Wednesday, the contract hit an 11-month high of 1,869 pounds.

* Prices rose 1.9% on the week, underpinned by technically driven buying and moves by top growers Ivory Coast and Ghana to set a floor price for cocoa.

* Ghana's crop outlook has also worsened.

* Bad weather and crop disease have hampered the cocoa crop in second-largest producer Ghana, forcing processors there to import beans at rates higher than usual, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

* September New York cocoa settled down $14, or 0.6%, at $2,496 per tonne. The contract rose 1.2% on the week.

SUGAR

* July raw sugar settled unchanged from the previous session at 12.75 cents per lb after rising to a fresh 1-1/2-month high of 12.78.

* The corn market continues to support sugar prices, dealers said.

* "The historic delay in planting corn and soy in the United States due to record rain has caused corn to break out of its five-year range to the upside," said Michael McDougall, managing director of Paragon Global Markets.

* "For Brazil, this could mean less ethanol imports coming from the US and a potential to increase ethanol exports to the United States."

* Dry weather in India, which industry sources said could cause production there to fall by 15% in 2019/20 compared to the previous year, was also supporting prices, dealers said.

* August white sugar settled down 70 cents, or 0.2%, at $335 per tonne.

COFFEE

* September arabica coffee settled down 1.7 cents, or 1.7%, at 98.05 cents per lb.

* Prices plunged about 5.3% on the week, the worst weekly performance for the second position contract in 1-1/2 years.

* Prices were pressured by the Brazilian real, which was at its weakest against the US dollar in over a week. A weaker currency in the top grower can encourage producer selling.

* Plentiful supplies in Brazil also continued to weigh, dealers said.

* The amount of coffee in the hands of private companies in Brazil reached 12.8 million bags as of March 31, up 31% from a year earlier, the government's food supply and statistics agency Conab said on Thursday.

* September robusta coffee settled down $22, or 1.6%, at $1,392 per tonne.