LONDON: Sugar futures fell on Tuesday on chart-based selling while cocoa climbed off four-week lows touched a day earlier, with gains capped by worries about ample supplies.
SUGAR
May raw sugar slipped by 0.36 cents, or 2.2 percent, to 16.27 cents a lb by 1347 GMT.
Dealers said there was technically driven selling while fundamentals were also bearish, with a growing consensus there could be a significant global surplus in the 2017/18 season.
Little upside was seen without firmer indications of risks from an El Nino weather pattern, which could disrupt production if its timing coincides with the crop-friendly monsoon in India.
In the short-term, investors were watching Brazil's weather for rains that would delay crushing in the south, though any impact on broader supply beyond May delivery was seen as limited.
"Northern parts of the region should be able to crush as planned," said Commonwealth Bank of Australia's Tobin Gorey. "They might do more if the market prices enough premium into the May contract."
May white sugar fell $7.40, or 1.6 percent, to $471.40 a tonne, with dealers reporting heightened activity from funds rolling forward positions before Thursday's contract expiry.
China's ministry of agriculture raised its deficit expectations for the country to 2.32 million tonnes, up from a previous forecast of 1.87 million tonnes.
COCOA
July New York cocoa gained $8, or 0.4 percent, to $1,972 a tonne.
July London was up 9 pounds, or 0.57 percent, at 1,598 pounds a tonne.
Both markets had slumped to four-week lows on Monday on a flurry of chart-based selling.
Cocoa arrivals at ports in top grower Ivory Coast since the start of the season on Oct. 1 reached about 1,411,000 tonnes by April 9. That was up by about 15 percent from 1,226,000 tonnes in the same period of the previous season.
The market is anticipating a small year-on-year rise in the first-quarter European cocoa grind, which is scheduled to be released on Wednesday.
COFFEE
May arabica coffee gained 0.25 cents, or 0.2 percent, to $1.4010 per lb. May robusta rose by a marginal $1, or 0.05 percent, to $2,155 a tonne.
The world coffee market could see a deficit of 4.3 million 60kg bags in 2017/2018 because of lower production and dwindling stocks in top grower Brazil, Marex Spectron said on Tuesday.
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