LONDON: White sugar futures prices edged up on Thursday in thin trading, with US-based markets shut for the Thanksgiving holiday, while a stronger pound helped to drive down London cocoa prices.
SUGAR
March white sugar was up $0.40, or 0.1 percent, at $393.10 per tonne at 1138 GMT as the market consolidated after the prior session's sharp advance.
Dealers said the rally in sugar prices had been largely driven by fund buying in raws against the backdrop of more constructive price charts.
Some dealers also attributed the market's strength to rising gasoline prices in Brazil.
High gasoline prices can encourage more use of cane in Brazil to produce renewable fuel ethanol rather than sugar although the impact may be limited as this season's cane crush is beginning to wind down in Centre-South Brazil.
"Too little cane is being crushed to make a substantive difference to global sugar supply, no matter how it is split between sugar and ethanol. The contrary belief, though, is widespread and persistent," said analyst Tobin Gorey of Commonwealth Bank of Australia.
The global sugar market will see a surplus of 5.5 million tonnes in 2018/19 due to higher production in India, Thailand, China and the European Union, Societe Generale said on Wednesday.
COCOA
March London cocoa fell by 13 pounds, or 0.8 percent, to 1,578 pounds a tonne.
Dealers said the market was weighed partly by the strength of sterling against the dollar.
Sterling hit a six-week high against a weaker dollar on Thursday, with traders largely brushing off sharp downward growth forecast revisions and refocusing on Brexit negotiations.
COFFEE
January robusta coffee rose $8, or 0.5 percent, to $1,765 a tonne, edging away from a 16-month low for the second position of $1,753 set on Wednesday.
Guatemalan 2017-18 coffee exports are expected to rise 4.8 percent versus the previous cycle to 4.4 million 60-kg bags, the president of national coffee association Anacafe said on Wednesday.
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