Raw sugar futures rise as oil heads higher; arabica coffee falls

LONDON: Raw sugar futures on ICE rose on Friday, extending their recovery from a seven-week low hit earlier in the week as oil prices improved, while arabica coffee fell to its lowest in more than a month.

Rising energy prices tend to prompt cane mills in top producer Brazil to produce more ethanol, a cane-based biofuel, at the expense of sugar.

Sugar

July raw sugar were up 0.5% to 18.87 cents per lb at 1214 GMT.

Dealers cited good buying from end users at these prices levels but added that with the dollar strengthening and little fresh news on the fundamentals front, sugar was unlikely to make significant gains.

A strong dollar makes dollar-priced sugar costlier for non-U.S. investors.

Also capping sugar’s upside, Indian mills have signed contracts to export 8.2 million to 8.3 million tonnes of sugar in the current year without government subsidies.

August white sugar rose 0.4% to $524.40 a tonne.

Raw sugar edges up; robusta coffee hits five-week peak

Coffee

July arabica coffee fell 1.9% to $2.1325 per lb, having earlier fallen to its lowest since late March at $2.1260.

The International Coffee Organisation said in its latest monthly report that global coffee exports in March were 3.99% higher than a year ago at 13.16 million bags.

Arabica stocks held in ICE certified warehouses have also been edging up over the past two months after falling to 20-year lows in February.

July robusta coffee fell 0.8% to $2,120, after rising to a five-week peak of $2,159 on Thursday.

Cocoa

July New York cocoa fell 1% to $2,486 a tonne.

July London cocoa fell 1% to 1,781 pounds per tonne.