LONDON: Raw sugar futures on ICE fell to their lowest level in almost a year on Wednesday on an improving outlook for 2017/18 crops, while coffee and cocoa prices were higher.
SUGAR
July raw sugar fell 0.07 cents, or 0.4 percent, to 16.21 cents per lb by 1403 GMT after dipping to a low of 16.03 cents, the weakest for the second position since May 9, 2016.
Dealers said the market was weighed by the prospect of a global surplus in the upcoming 2017/18 season (October/September) with forecasts for its size steadily increasing.
They said India might also import less sugar than previously anticipated this season, with reports that demand in the top consuming country had fallen.
"Upward revisions to production forecasts well outnumber downward revisions. And an Indian summer of imports looks less and less likely": analyst Tobin Gorey of Commonwealth Bank of Australia.
August white sugar down $1.30 at $467.70 a tonne.
China is considering special import duties on sugar as part of an anti-dumping probe, according to two people familiar with the matter, in what would be a win for domestic producers seeking help battling cheap imports from Brazil and other major growers.
COFFEE
July arabica coffee rose 1.05 cents, or 0.8 percent, to $1.3345 per lb as the market pulled away from a 10-1/2 month low of $1.3050 set on Tuesday.
"We were surprised at the (recent downward) move and given no change in fundamentals, we remain bullish": Rabobank.
"If anything, the continuous dryness in Brazil's main coffee areas could worsen the conversion rate (of cherries to green beans)," the Rabobank report said, noting that could reduce the potential of Brazil's 2018 crop.
Robusta coffee also regained some ground, with the market on course to end a run of five consecutive lower closes.
July robusta rose $3, or 0.2 percent, to $1,919 a tonne. The second month had slid to a low of $1,871 on Tuesday, its weakest since Sept. 6, 2016.
COCOA
July London cocoa rose 11 pounds, or 0.7 percent, to 1,461 pounds a tonne.
The market has rebounded after slumping to a four-year low of 1,372 pounds last week, but faced resistance at the 10-day moving average which is currently around 1,494 pounds.
July New York cocoa rose $7, or 0.4 percent, to $1,859 a tonne.
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