Raw sugar prices ease, arabica coffee also down

LONDON: Raw sugar futures on ICE were lower on Wednesday as the market's focus remained on the potential threat to crops posed by a cold front moving through top producer Brazil, while coffee prices also weakened.

SUGAR

October raw sugar fell by 0.05 cent, or 0.3%, to 17.49 cents per lb by 1110 GMT.

Dealers said they were keeping a close watch on a strong polar air mass which is moving through South and Southeast areas of Brazil and prices could remain choppy in the short-term.

"The coldest extremes so far have only been observed in the north-west of Parana, a boundary area for Centre-South sugarcane production," Commonwealth Bank of Australia analyst Tobin Gorey said, adding the cold could potentially move further north where there was more cane to damage.

A small delivery was expected against the July contract which expires on Wednesday with its widening discount to October indicating a lack of appetite to receive sugar at a time when global demand appears weak.

August white sugar rose by $1.20, or 0.3%, to $433.60 a tonne.

COFFEE

September arabica coffee fell by 1.5 cents, or 0.9%, to $1.5870 per lb.

Dealers were also watching the strong polar air mass in top coffee producer Brazil.

The most significant threat, however, is to crops in Parana which accounts for less than 5% of total Brazilian arabica production.

September robusta coffee fell by $11, or 0.7%, to $1,664 a tonne.

COCOA

September New York cocoa fell by $2, or 0.1%, to $2,388 a tonne.

September London cocoa fell by 6 pounds, or 0.4%, to 1,618 pounds a tonne.