Raw sugar futures rose on trade and investor buying on Friday, buoyed by a scaled-back forecast for Indian sugar output, while coffee futures retreated from near 13-1/2-year peaks. Cocoa drifted further from last week's one-year high, in a tight range as traders pondered whether a call for a month-long export ban in top grower Ivory Coast would be extended.
Raw sugar futures rose as much as 3.8 percent, drawing to within sight of 30-year peaks, after an Indian state cut its output view for the country's 2010/11 sugar crop to 24 million tonnes, below government estimates. ICE March raw sugar was up 0.34 cent or 1.1 percent at 32.38 cents a lb at 1546 GMT, recovering from its biggest one-day loss in a month on Thursday, and below the 30-year peak of 36.08 cents touched on Wednesday.
March arabica coffee futures on ICE dipped 1.35 cents or 0.5 percent at $2.5000 per lb at 1546 GMT after touching a 13-1/2-year peak of $2.5360 a lb on Thursday. ICE benchmark March cocoa dropped as much as 3.5 percent and later stood at $3,270 per tonne at 1546 GMT, down $88 or 2.6 percent.
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