LONDON: Raw sugar futures retreated on Wednesday as speculative short-covering waned and technical signals weakened, while London cocoa hovered near a two-month high.
SUGAR
March raw sugar was down 0.09 cent, or 0.7 percent, at 13.75 cents per lb by 1139 GMT, after falling to a session low of 13.62 cents.
This partially wiped out gains made on Tuesday, when the front month climbed to a three-week high of 14.04 cents but then fell back as speculative short-covering was met by producer selling.
Dealers pointed to a weaker technical structure after the market had failed to close above yesterday's highs.
Sentiment was also soured by a looming global supply glut and a weakening in the March-May spread, which had rallied this week and signalled at least potentially tighter nearby supplies.
India doubled the import duty on sugar to 100 percent, a government order said on Tuesday, as falling prices of the sweetener made it difficult for local mills to pay the mandatory price to cane farmers.
"Domestic prices in India have fallen by around 17 percent since the start of the season, due to the expectation that the country will see a recovery in domestic production," ING said in a market update. "In fact, India could have a small exportable surplus this season, which would weigh on the whites premium."
March white sugar fell $0.50, or 0.14 percent, to $357.10 per tonne.
On Tuesday, the premium for March white sugar over March raw sugar dropped to its lowest since September, indicating depressed processing margins for refiners.
Russian raw sugar imports decreased to 14,400 tonnes in 2017 from 259,500 in the same period a year ago, customs data showed.
COCOA
May London cocoa was up 7 pounds or 0.5 percent at 1,481 pounds a tonne, hovering just below a two-month high touched a day earlier.
Prices were supported by a weakening in the British pound.
March New York cocoa was unchanged at $2,065 a tonne.
COFFEE
March arabica coffee fell 0.15 cents, or 0.1 percent, to $1.2490 per lb.
Prices saw their biggest one-day rally in five weeks on Wednesday on speculative short-covering and a climb in the Brazilian real.
March robusta coffee was down $5 or 0.3 percent at $1,765 a tonne.
A growing number of farmers in Latin American nations renowned for their high-quality arabica coffee are starting to plant cheaper robusta.
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