Raw sugar hits 5 month peak on Brazil frosts, arabica falls

LONDON: Raw sugar futures on ICE hit a five month high on Thursday as investors continued pricing in another forecast cold snap in top producer Brazil that will likely further damage the cane crop.

Arabica coffee futures, having already straddled near 7 year highs this week on the frost fears, drifted down as investors bet current price levels incorporate the looming freeze.

SUGAR

October raw sugar were down 0.2% to 18.57 cents per lb at 1117 GMT.

Dealers said although the frosts set to hit sugar areas in Brazil on Friday and Saturday would likely be less severe than last week's, the damage is cumulative and the crop is also already stressed from previous dry weather.

The price bias is therefore to the upside, they said, even though there are signs sugar demand is weak.

Brazil's food supply and statistics agency Conab said recent cold weather killed sugarcane plants in parts of the Centre-South region.

October white sugar rose 0.2% to $459.20 a tonne.

COFFEE

September arabica coffee fell 2.3% to $1.9555 per lb.

Dealers said coffee areas in Brazil that might be impacted by frosts later this week are the same areas already damaged by last week's freezing temperatures.

Arabica coffee steadies after hitting near 7 year high on Brazil frost fears

Trader Comexim said it expects last week's frosts took out 13% of the coffee crop in the Cerrado region, 12.5% of the crop in South Minas, 8.5% in São Paulo and 5.5% in Paraná.

Nestle said strong demand for coffee boosted organic sales in the first half, allowing the world's biggest food group to raise its full-year growth guidance.

September robusta coffee fell 2.2% to $1,900 a tonne.

Domestic coffee prices in Vietnam, the world's top robusta producer, edged up on Thursday on upbeat global prices and limited supplies.

Vietnam's coffee exports in the first seven months of the year are expected to drop 9.3% from a year earlier, government data showed.

COCOA

December London cocoa fell 0.1% to 1,650 pounds per tonne, having hit the highest price since mid-May on Wednesday.

Coffee, cocoa and sugar retreat amid selloff in oil and equities

December New York cocoa were up 0.4% to $2,437 a tonne, having hit the highest since early June.