Raw sugar hits more than three-week low; arabica coffee up 2%

LONDON: Raw sugar futures on ICE rose on Friday, with investors encouraged by gains in wider financial markets to snap up bargains after prices hit their lowest in 3-1/2 weeks during the previous session.

Cocoa prices hit two-week highs while coffee fell.

Sugar

March raw sugar rose 0.7% to 18.12 cents per lb at 1234 GMT, having hit the lowest level since Jan. 10 on Thursday at 17.77 cents.

Dealers said sugar will struggle to claw its way above 19 cents because of good crop prospects in key producers India and Thailand, as well as expectations that even top producer Brazil's crop is set to recover from adverse weather last year.

March white sugar rose 0.7% to $495.90 a tonne.

Raw sugar gains as wider financial market jitters abate

Cocoa

May New York cocoa was up 1.2% at $2,723 a tonne after touching its highest since Jan. 20 at $2,726.

Cocoa is gaining ground thanks to growing concerns over hot, dry hot weather in top producer Ivory Coast.

Cocoa arrivals at ports in Ivory Coast reached 1,330 millions tonnes between Oct. 1 and Jan. 31, down 0.5% from the same period last year, official data showed.

March London cocoa rose 1% to 1,772 pounds per tonne, having hit its highest since Jan. 19 at 1,774 pounds.

Coffee

March arabica coffee fell 0.5% to $2.4265 per lb.

Dealers said good rains in top producer Brazil have improved prospects for the current crop, which was heavily damaged by adverse weather last year.

However, arabica remains underpinned by the slow pace of exports from Brazil and declines in ICE certified stocks.

ICE stocks fell again on Thursday by more than 16,000 bags to 1.13 million bags, heading towards the lowest level in 20 years.

May robusta coffee fell 0.3% to $2,213 a tonne, having set a three-month low of $2,161 on Monday.