LONDON: Raw sugar futures on ICE fell on Monday, pressured by worries about possible exports from India, coupled with a slowdown in speculative short-covering, while New York cocoa edged up.
SUGAR
* October raw sugar was down 0.28 cent, or 2.6 percent, at 10.56 cents per lb at 1032 GMT.
* Dealers said focus remained on India, whose government is poised to consider this week further measures to support its sugar industry, including incentives for exports.
* While there are still logistical barriers to any surge in Indian exports, participants noted government support will encourage production and deepen the supply glut.
* "The fizz has gone out of the market since the other consequence of the Indian package is that farmers will probably continue to plant as much cane as they can for the 2019/20 crop," Marex Spectron said in a report.
* The market was also weighed down by signs that speculative short-covering may be poised to slow, after data showed funds had sharply reduced their bearish bet in the commodity.
* Despite Monday's weakness, however, prices remained above a 10-year low of 9.91 cents hit last month.
* December white sugar fell $6.20, or 1.9 percent, to $324.80 a tonne.
* Biosev, the Brazilian sugar firm controlled by commodities trader Louis Dreyfus, sold a mill to pay down debt and is taking measures to boost ethanol stocks.
COFFEE
* December arabica coffee was down 0.25 cent, or 0.2 percent, at 99.65 cents per lb.
* Speculators boosted their bearish stance in arabica coffee to a record in the week to Sept. 18, government data showed on Friday.
* Arabica prices have been battered recently by short-selling against a backdrop of ample global supplies, with futures last week hitting their lowest in more than 12-1/2 years.
* November robusta coffee rose $5, or 0.3 percent, to $1,494 a tonne.
COCOA
* December New York cocoa rose $11, or 0.5 percent, to $2,178 a tonne, partly lifted by a softer US dollar.
* Prices fell to their lowest in a month on Friday, weighed down by technical selling and a positive outlook for the upcoming main crop in West Africa.
* December London cocoa was unchanged at 1,565 pounds a tonne.
* Warehouse deliveries of cocoa from Brazil's main growing regions and from imports were down 6 percent from May 1 to Sept. 16 compared with the same period a year earlier.
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