Sugar, cocoa and coffee fall after Omicron vaccine warning

LONDON: Sugar, cocoa and arabica coffee fell on Tuesday after drugmaker Moderna cast doubt on the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines against the new Omicron coronavirus variant, spooking investors in soft commodities and beyond.

SUGAR

March raw sugar fell 2.6% to 18.69 cents per lb by 1616 GMT - far below a 4-1/2 year high of 20.69 cents set this month.

Dealers said sugar is beholden to macroeconomic sentiment at present and has further to fall.

Looking further ahead, Rabobank expects raw sugar to average 20.80 cents in the third quarter of next year as the sugar market registers a deficit of 2.3 million tonnes by the end of the 2021/22 (Oct-Sept) season after a 1.2 million tonne deficit in 2020/21.