LONDON: Cocoa futures on ICE hit their highest in about a month on Tuesday amid adverse El Nino-linked weather in key growing regions, while raw sugar headed back towards last week’s 19-month peak.
COCOA: London cocoa was up 15 percent to £4,343 a metric ton at 1513 GMT, having hit its highest since early September at £4,466.
“Ivory Coast and southwestern Ghana have seen below normal (El Niño-linked) rainfall for the past couple of months and this pattern is expected to continue over the next week to 10 days,” said broker ADMIS.
Rabobank said unseasonal recent and forecast wet weather in Ecuador, the world’s third-largest grower, was also raising concerns about production.
Elsewhere, the market is awaiting this week’s third-quarter cocoa grind data, a measure of demand.
Broker StoneX expects the grind in top processing region Europe to drop 2.6 percent year-on-year. The Asian grind is seen increasing 17.3 percent, however, while in North America it is seen dipping 0.2 percent.
New York cocoa rose 2.3 percent to USD5,805 a ton, having hit its highest since mid-September at USD5,965.
SUGAR: Raw sugar rose 1.3 percent to 21.11 cents per lb, having touched a 19-month peak of 21.24 cents last Wednesday.
“Excess rainfall in (top grower) Brazil continues to underpin rising estimates for standover cane to be left unharvested in 2026, tightening global supplies,” said Rabobank.
The bank also said second-largest grower India might need to import sugar this season as its supplies are growing increasingly tight.
Looking ahead, however, Rabobank believes this year’s Brazilian rains bode well for next year’s crop and cast a somewhat bearish light on prices in the second half of 2027.
France’s farm ministry reduced its 2026/27 sugar beet production outlook to 25.3 million tons following a summer drought, down 30 percent year-on-year and the lowest since ministry records began in 1980.
White sugar rose 0.5 percent to USD563.70 a metric ton.
COFFEE: Arabica coffee rose 0.7 percent to USD2.9250 per lb, having settled up 1.3 percent on Monday.
The pace of exports from top grower Brazil is keeping a lid on coffee prices despite concerns that El Niño could bring dry conditions later this year, which would hurt the 2027/28 crop.
Robusta coffee rose 0.2 percent to USD3,485 a ton.
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