Raw sugar surges over 4 percent; coffee, cocoa up

Raw sugar futures on ICE rebounded more than 4 percent on Friday, their biggest one-day rally of the year as top grower Brazil's real currency firmed sharply from its lowest level in more than two years. July raw sugar settled up 0.52 cent, or 4.4 percent, at 12.25 cents per lb, its biggest one-day surge since December, after falling to 11.6 cents, the weakest for the front-month since May 18.
The spot contract, however, closed the week down 2.2 percent on overall weakness in the Brazilian currency, the real, which had plummeted to its lowest level in over two years on Thursday. A weak Brazil real makes dollar-denominated commodities prices more attractive in local currency terms and can lead to a pickup in producer selling. "We've had a bit of a 'real' improvement and some people are taking their profits (on short positions) here," a London dealer said.
Dealers were awaiting data from Brazil cane industry group Unica on cane and sugar production in the second half of May. The data, which is expected to be released early next week, could show a decline in the crush compared to the first half of last month partly due to the disruption caused by nationwide trucker protests.
August white sugar settled up $10.90, or 3.3 percent, at $346.50 per tonne.
September New York cocoa settled up $101, or 4.3 percent, at $2,429 per tonne, the strongest one-day rally in nearly two months. This came after matching the prior session's three-month low of $2,320.
For the week, the second-position contract closed down for the fourth straight week.
The rally came after total open interest tumbled by 13,782 lots to a seven-week low at 282,888 lots on Thursday, ICE data showed. "Some people took that as positive for the market because there was a bunch of long liquidation," one US trader said. "It's not a shock, it was short-term oversold."
September London cocoa closed up 67 pounds, or 4 percent, at 1,746 pounds a tonne.
July arabica coffee settled up 1.55 cents, or 1.3 percent, at $1.1725 per lb, after equalling Thursday's low of $1.1565, the weakest for the contract since April 18.
The recovery in Brazil's currency helped lift arabica prices for the first time in six sessions. For the week, the spot contract closed down 4.5 percent. July robusta coffee settled down $12, or 0.7 percent, at $1,721 per tonne.