Raw sugar prices slip; cocoa hits 20-day low
- March arabica coffee settled up 0.15 cent, or 0.1%, at $1.1925 per lb.
- March New York cocoa settled down $61, or 2.3%, to $2,575 a tonne.
- March raw sugar closed down 0.06 cent to 14.39 cents.
NEW YORK/LONDON: Raw sugar futures on ICE closed down on Tuesday as funds continue to reduce their long position and the market consolidates lower on lack of fresh fundamentals.
Cocoa futures in New York fell to the lowest price in 20 days as worries about demand continues amid a comfortable supply outlook.
SUGAR
March raw sugar closed down 0.06 cent to 14.39 cents.
Dealers said the market was underpinned by diminishing crop prospects in several regions including western Europe, but rains in centre-south Brazil continue to improve the production outlook in the world's largest sugar maker.
France's farm ministry has again cut its forecast for the country's 2020 sugar beet harvest, which has been hit by crop disease and drought.
"The market looks set to remain quiet with a sight down-side bias. However, the volume is so thin that any move could be exaggerated," said an European dealer.
March white sugar fell $1 to $396.70 a tonne.
COCOA
March New York cocoa settled down $61, or 2.3%, to $2,575 a tonne, having touched a 20-day low of $2,569 per tonnes earlier in the session.
Dealers said a recent deal between top grower Ivory Coast and chocolate maker Hershey could lead to a pick-up in producer selling and exert downward pressure on prices.
The prospect of a global surplus in the current 2020/21 season also remained a bearish influence, though there remained concerns about dry conditions in parts of Ivory Coast.
March London cocoa settled down 34 pounds, or 1.9%, to 1,745 pounds per tonne.
COFFEE
March arabica coffee settled up 0.15 cent, or 0.1%, at $1.1925 per lb as the market remains in a recent range.
Broker and coffee trader ED&F Man expects the 2021 Brazilian coffee crop to reach around 52.5 million bags, a nearly 23% fall compared to an average market estimate of 68 million bags for the 2020 season.
Colombia produced 1.44 million 60kg bags of washed arabica coffee in November, the national coffee federation said late on Monday, down 4% on the same month last year.
March robusta coffee settled down $5, or 0.4%, at $1,345 a tonne.
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