LONDON: Raw sugar futures rose on Tuesday, supported by gains in crude oil, although the market remained well within its recent trading band while cocoa and coffee prices also edged higher.
SUGAR
March raw sugar was up 0.13 cents, or 1.0 percent, at 12.80 cents per lb at 1205 GMT.
Oil prices gained about 1 percent on Tuesday, supported by OPEC-led production cuts and US sanctions against Iran and Venezuela, though remain wary of surging US output and the outcome of US-China trade talks.
Higher oil prices encourage increased use of cane in Brazil to make biofuel ethanol rather than sugar, and can therefore curb output of the sweetener.
Dealers said the prospect of exports from India in coming weeks continued to keep a lid on the market.
March white sugar was up $1.80, or 0.55 percent, at $328.10 a tonne, edging away from a five-week low of $325.90 set on Monday.
Dealers said March's discount to May had widened further ahead of the former contract's expiry on Wednesday, indicating there was little appetite to take delivery.
COCOA
May London cocoa was up 17 pounds, or 1.0 percent, at 1,723 pounds a tonne boosted partly by a weak pound.
Sterling fell against the dollar on Tuesday to a new three-week low, as doubts grow about whether British Prime Minister Theresa May can convince the European Union to accept changes to her Brexit divorce deal.
More downpours are needed to strengthen Ivory Coast's April-to-September cocoa mid-crop despite above-average rains in most growing regions last week, farmers said.
May New York cocoa rose $8, or 0.35 percent, to $2,273 a tonne.
COFFEE8
March arabica coffee rose by a 0.15 cent, or 0.15 percent, to $1.0035 per lb with the market consolidating after the prior session's fall to a five-week low.
Dealers said the strong pace of exports from Brazil was keeping the market on the defensive.
Brazil exported 3.05 million 60-kg bags of green coffee in January, a record volume for the month and 20.3 pct more than for the same period last year, exporters association Cecafé said on Monday.
March robusta coffee was up $8, or 0.5 percent, at $1,512 a tonne
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