Raw sugar hits two week low; coffee, cocoa sli

LONDON: Raw sugar prices on ICE hit a two week low on Monday as oil prices fell and previous tightness in refined white sugar continued to ease, while coffee and cocoa also slid.

Falling oil prices encourage cane mills in Brazil to ramp up sugar output at the expense of cane-based ethanol.

SUGAR

October raw sugar fell 0.07 cents, or 0.6%, to 11.69 cents per lb at 1054 GMT, having hit a 2 week low of 11.67.

August white sugar fell $1.90, or 0.6%, to $333.50 a tonne, having hit its lowest in 2-1/2 months.

"Prompt white sugar, far from being in deficit, is unwanted and (Brazilian) mills are continuing to make maximum sugar... But sugar remains obstinately attached to the price of crude, and the funds are in full buying mode," said Marex Spectron in a note.

Speculators raised a net long position in ICE raw sugar in the week to July 7 by 16,394 contracts to 62,315 contracts, CFTC data showed.

US sugar stocks-to-use ratio increased on a monthly basis for both old and new crop years on Friday.

COCOA

September London cocoa fell 17 pounds, or 1.1%, to 1,561 pounds per tonne, having hit a more than 1-1/2 year low last week.

September New York cocoa fell $11, or 0.5%, to $2,149 a tonne.

Speculators increased their net short position in New York cocoa by 8,724 contracts to 23,745 contracts in the week to July 7.

Cocoa processors in top producer Ivory Coast ground 422,000 tonnes of beans in the nine months to end-June, up from 409,000 tonnes, data showed.

COFFEE

September arabica coffee fell 0.6 cents, or 0.6%, to 96.85 cents per lb.

Speculators reduced their short bet in ICE arabica coffee by 1,370 contracts to 23,843 contracts in the week to July 7, CFTC data showed.

September robusta coffee fell $7, or 0.6%, to $1,190 a tonne.

Vietnam's coffee exports in the first half of this year rose 2.2% from a year earlier, though coffee expoorts in June fell 2% from May.