Raw sugar slips from 5-1/2 month peak, arabica also falls

LONDON: Raw sugar futures on ICE slipped on Monday amid falling oil prices, but remained near Friday's 5-1/2 month peak on bets Brazil's cane crop is likely to be significantly smaller than previously expected.

Arabica coffee also fell.

SUGAR

October raw sugar fell 0.9% to 18.51 cents per lb at 1156 GMT, after setting a 5-1/2 month high of 18.92 cents pm Friday.

Dealers said on balance, sugar will likely rebound on bets the crop in top producer Brazil, which was hit this season by drought and frosts, will continue to be marked down.

Raw sugar sets 5-1/2 month peak, Brazil crop outlook dims

The gains in sugar, they said, will come even though supply in India, another key producer and exporter, remains ample and global demand remains poor, as indicated by the market structure.

ICE sugar speculators raised their net long position by 7,467 contracts to 177,380 in the week to Aug. 3, data showed.

October white sugar fell 0.9% to $455.50 a tonne.

COFFEE

September arabica coffee fell 1.4% to $1.7350 per lb.

The arabica market is struggling to find fair value, having soared near seven-year peaks above $2 per lb in July after frosts hit an estimated 11% of the arabica growing area in top producer Brazil, damaging the crop for at least the next two seasons.

Arabica coffee hits 4-1/2 year high on Brazil frosts

ICE coffee speculators raised their net long position by 891 contracts to 33,814 in the week to Aug. 3, data showed.

November robusta coffee rose 0.9% to $1,770 a tonne.

COCOA

December New York cocoa rose 0.4% to $2,483 a tonne.

ICE cocoa speculators trimmed their net short position by 684 contracts to 15,484 in the week to Aug. 3, data showed.

Cocoa arrivals at ports in world's top grower Ivory Coast reached 2.11 million tonnes between Oct. 1 and Aug. 8, exporters estimated, up 4.8% from a year ago.

Ivory Coast cocoa grinders processed 452,000 tonnes of beans by the end of July, down 3.6% from a year ago, data from cocoa exporters' association GEPEX showed.

December London cocoa 0.8% to 1,720 pounds per tonne.