Raw sugar lower, arabica coffee drops to five-week low

Raw sugar futures on ICE inched lower on Monday as market participants focused on a major industry conference in Dubai, while front-month arabica fell below $1 for the first time since early January.
March raw sugar settled down 0.04 cent, or 0.3 percent, at 12.67 cents per lb.
Prices were pressured by lower oil prices and a weaker Brazilian currency, dealers said.
Dealers were closely following a conference in Dubai, where discussions highlighted the difficulties faced by the sector.
The European Union's sugar industry needs to consolidate to contend with lower prices since the end of production quotas in 2017, the chief executive of Cristal Union told Reuters on the sidelines of the conference.
Louis Dreyfus expects faster switching between sugar and ethanol production in Brazil, with more flexible mills leading to "dramatic" price-driven shifts.
Uncertainty over how much cane Brazil will devote to sugar production has helped keep futures rangebound, dealers said.
A Reuters poll, however, indicated there could be a modest price rebound by the end of the year with a global deficit seen in 2019/20.
March white sugar settled down $7.60, or 2.3 percent, at $326.30 per tonne after setting a five-week low of $325.90.
March's discount to May widened to as much as -$14.40 ahead of the former contract's expiry on Wednesday, indicating little appetite to take delivery, dealers said.
March arabica coffee settled down 2.4 cent, or 2.3 percent, at $1.0020 per lb, after touching a Jan. 3 low of 99.85 cents.
Prices were weighed down by the weaker currency in top grower Brazil, which can encourage producer selling.
Options expiry on Friday also pressured prices, dealers said.
Brazilian green coffee exports in January were 20.3 percent higher than the same month last year.
March robusta coffee settled down $26, or 1.7 percent, at $1,504 per tonne after trading as low as $1,499.
May New York cocoa settled up $30, or 1.3 percent, at $2,265 per tonne.
May London cocoa settled up 39 pounds, or 2.3 percent, at 1,706 pounds per tonne after touching a three-week high of 1,711.
London has continued to outperform New York, gaining 7.4 percent so far this month versus New York's 2.2 percent. This is in part on weakness in the British pound as Brexit uncertainty mounts.
Cocoa arrivals at ports in top grower Ivory Coast reached 1.425 million tonnes between Oct. 1 and Feb. 11, exporters estimated, up about 10 percent year on year.