NEW YORK/LONDON: Raw sugar futures on ICE fell on Monday in their worst daily performance in a month as a downturn in oil prices weighed down the market, while arabica coffee and cocoa also fell.
SUGAR
* May raw sugar settled down 0.3 cent, or 2.3 percent, at 13 cents per lb, its biggest daily percentage decline since Jan. 25.
* Oil futures tumbled 3 percent on Monday after US President Donald Trump called for OPEC to "relax and take it easy" on boosting crude prices, which he said were climbing too high.
* Lower oil prices can discourage sugarcane mills in top-grower Brazil from producing ethanol, and can instead encourage higher sugar production.
* Last week, sugar prices hit a 3-1/2 month high of 13.42, also on the back of movements in the crude market.
* Dealers noted the expiry of the March contract on Thursday would provide a short-term focus.
* The delivery could be around 750,000 tonnes and feature sugar from Central America, Thailand, India and Brazil, said Tom Kujawa, co-head of the softs department at Sucden Financial in a note.
* May white sugar settled down $9, or 2.5 percent, at $350.50 per tonne.
* Indonesia has asked India to cut its tariff on refined palm oil to 45 percent, matching the levy faced by rival producer Malaysia, and has offered market access for Indian sugar in exchange, the trade ministry said.
COFFEE
* May arabica coffee settled down 0.15 cent, or 0.2 percent, at 99.85 cents per lb, after dipping to 99.60 cents.
* The contract has failed to settle above the psychologically significant $1 level for the past three sessions.
* Last week, prices fell to 99.05 cents, a five-month low.
* The market has struggled to absorb a record-large Brazilian crop.
* May robusta coffee settled up $11, or 0.7 percent, at $1,550 per tonne.
COCOA
* May New York cocoa settled down $32, or 1.4 percent, at $2,256 per tonne.
* A large crop in top grower Ivory Coast and good weather conditions there were keeping a lid on the market, dealers said.
* Cocoa arrivals at ports in Ivory Coast reached 1.469 million tonnes between Oct. 1 and Feb. 24, exporters estimated, up about 9 percent year on year.
* Above average rains last week in most of Ivory Coast's cocoa-growing regions were expected to boost the development of the April-to-September mid-crop, farmers said on Monday.
* May London cocoa settled down 28 pounds, or 1.6 percent, at 1,716 pounds per tonne.
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