Raw sugar steadies as risk appetite returns

LONDON: Raw sugar futures on ICE steadied on Monday amid upbeat sentiment in global equities and oil, with the market consolidating after its slide last week from a 3-1/2 year high hit in mid-January.

Cocoa and coffee both fell.

SUGAR

March raw sugar edged down 0.1% to 15.86 cents per lb at 1511 GMT, having hit a one-week low on Friday.

Dealers said sugar is likely to consolidate at current levels, with funds unlikely to cut much more of their longs and the risk, on balance, being that they reinstate their longs if macroeconomic factors turn positive again.

Speculators increased their net long positions in raw sugar on ICE in the week to Jan. 19 by 7,337 contracts to 173,079 contracts, data showed.

March white sugar rose 0.3% to $446 a tonne.

A Syrian state agency has issued an international tender to purchase and import about 85,000 tonnes of refined white sugar, European traders said.

COCOA

March London cocoa fell 0.6% to 1,723 pounds a tonne.

Speculators slightly raised their net long position in New York cocoa to 14,090 contracts in the week to Jan. 19, data showed.

Cocoa has underperformed relative to other commodities since the start of the year, under pressure from a supply glut linked in part to a scheme by top producers Ivory Coast and Ghana to charge a premium for their beans in an effort to combat farmer poverty.

Rainfall was below average last week in most of Ivory Coast's cocoa-growing regions, but good soil moisture content was helping the development of trees for the April-to-September mid-crop, farmers said.

March New York cocoa fell 1.1% to $2,502 a tonne.

COFFEE

March arabica coffee fell 0.1% to $1.2390 per lb, having hit its lowest in 1-1/2 weeks.

Speculators increased their net long positions in arabica coffee on ICE in the week to Jan. 19 by 7,631 contracts to a total bullish bet of 23,646 contracts, data showed.

March robusta coffee fell 0.2% to $1,307 a tonne.