LONDON: Arabica coffee ICE futures rose on Friday, buoyed by broad-based gains in several markets including energy and equities while disruptions to shipments from top producer Brazil also continued to provide support.

March arabica coffee rose 2.8% to $2.4320 per lb by 1509 GMT. Cooxupé, the world’s largest coffee co-op and Brazil’s number one exporter, cut its projection for 2021 coffee exports to 4.8 million bags from 6.5 million bags previously, saying shipping bottlenecks and a smaller crop are reducing export volumes.

Dealers said the reduction in shipments from Brazil had helped to tighten supplies in major consuming countries such as the United States and added to interest in exchange stocks which stood at 1.587 million bags, as of Dec. 2, down from 1.877 million bags a month earlier. January robusta coffee rose 0.3% to $2,343 a tonne.

March raw sugar rose 1.2% to 18.84 cents per lb. The market had dipped to a four-month low of 18.46 cents during the previous session. Dealers said there appeared to be solid support around 18.50 cents, a level likely to deter exports from India.

Gains in energy markets on Friday were also supportive with sugar and bio-fuel ethanol alternative uses for sugar cane, particularly in Brazil. March white sugar rose 0.7% to $488.10 a tonne.

March London cocoa rose 0.7% to 1,697 pounds a tonne. The market fell to a four-month low of 1,629 pounds earlier this week. Dealers said the market’s focus was on the extent to which the new COVID-19 variant could stall the recent recovery in demand for cocoa.

“For now, we expect the price of cocoa to rise in 2022 as demand revives, but we note that renewed lockdowns could depress demand and put a ceiling on prices,” Fitch Solutions said in a note on Friday. March New York cocoa was up 0.7% at $2,470 a tonne.

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