LONDON: New York cocoa futures rose on Tuesday, consolidating near four-year lows touched a day earlier, as lower exports from top producer Ivory Coast provided some support.
The March New York cocoa contract climbed $50, or 2.41 percent to $2,128 a tonne by 1321 GMT. March London cocoa was up 25 pounds, or 1.48 percent, to 1,712 pounds per tonne.
Prices were supported by provisional port data showing Ivory Coast exported 305,125 tonnes of raw cocoa beans in the first three months of the 2016/17 season, down almost 15 percent from the same period the previous year.
But one dealer said the gains were fragile, with continued pressure on prices from larger-than-expected stocks and an increasingly bearish stance from speculators.
"All eyes are on the returns to the recent lows that were touched yesterday," the dealer said. "The market was brought down on technical selling, which was applying pressure," the dealer said. "It's started off the week with a bit of pressure and it remains down there."
March arabica coffee was up 0.25 cents, or 0.17 percent, to $1.514 per lb. This helped erase losses from the previous day, driven by technical selling and coffee-friendly weather in Brazil.
March robusta coffee futures were steady at $2,237 a tonne.
Robusta supplies have tightened following poor crops in Brazil and Indonesia and a drop in production in Vietnam.
Brazil's Cia Cacique de Caf? Sol?vel SA, the country's number one exporter of instant coffee, said on Monday it was refraining from closing export deals for future delivery due to uncertainty over robusta coffee supplies.
Cacique's export sales director Pedro Guimar?es Fernandes said Brazil's robusta supply crisis is 'very serious' and that without an opening to imports soluble shipments would soon start to plunge.
March raw sugar futures rose 0.12 cents, or 0.59 percent to 20.43 cents per lb, while March white sugar was up $1.70, or 0.32 percent, at $539.70 per tonne.
Brazil's centre-south cane production is seen at 612 million tonnes versus 605.5 million tonnes in 2016/17, Datagro consultancy said on Tuesday.
The projection for the cane crush in 2017/18 is above the top end of a range projected by Datagro late last year between 580 million tonnes and 610 million tonnes, as favourable rains, better crop care boosts crop prospects.
Brazil's main cane belt should produce 36.8 million tonnes of sugar in the 2017/18 crop compared with 35.62 million tonnes produced in the previous season, the group said.
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