LONDON: New York cocoa futures fell to a seven-week low on Thursday on the back of speculative selling, while arabica coffee and raw sugar climbed amid lingering worries about reduced exports from Brazil after protests paralysed the top grower's transport system.
COCOA
July New York cocoa was down $52, or 2 percent, at $2,532 a tonne by 1345 GMT, after falling to $2,530, its lowest since April 11.
Dealers said activity in the market was driven by speculative trading, with funds unwinding long positions.
"There's been a gradual reduction of the spec long position," said one dealer. "Some reduction of their exposure was needed though and that's pretty much what we've got."
New York cocoa prices have rallied sharply this year on the back of heavy speculative buying in the market.
Dealers noted, however, that the decline could be limited as industry buying emerges at lower levels.
"The spec buying that we've seen this year has taken away price cover from the industry," the dealer said. "So at some point they have to come back in."
July London cocoa fell 31 pounds, or 1.7 percent, at 1,832 pounds a tonne.
COFFEE
July arabica coffee rose 1.60 cents, or 1.3 percent, to $1.2190 per lb, hovering just below a three-week high of $1.2220 set in the prior session.
Prices have rallied recently on the back of a truck driver strike in Brazil, which is expected to reduce the country's May coffee exports by 900,000 60-kg bags.
Worries about the disruptions remained in focus as protests began to unwind, although some exporters were still scrambling to resume operations.
"In the past, we've heard a lot about trucker strikes but I don't remember it doing quite as much damage to monthly shipments as we appear to be seeing for May," said one European dealer.
July robusta coffee rose $8, or 0.5 percent, to $1,740 a tonne.
SUGAR
July raw sugar was up 0.11 cents, or 0.9 percent, at 12.71 cents per lb, after hitting 12.76 cents, its highest since March 26.
Prices have rallied on the back of the production and export disruptions in top grower Brazil, even as a large global supply glut looms.
August white sugar rose $4.40, or 1.3 percent, to $353.30 a tonne.
India's sugar output is likely to scale record highs in the next marketing season, with farmers choosing to plant the crop despite falling prices and delayed payments from mills for the current harvest.
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