LONDON: London cocoa prices hit a three-week low on Monday as the market adjusted to signs of growing supply in top producer Ivory Coast, while sugar and coffee steadied.
COCOA
December London cocoa was down 8 pounds, or 0.4pc, at 1,823 pounds a tonne, having earlier hit its lowest in three weeks at 1,822 pounds.
December New York cocoa was $14, or 0.6pc, lower at $2,332 a tonne, having hit a two-month low of $2,324 on Monday.
"We've broken through some technical points, which has encouraged selling (and) everything seems hunky dory in West Africa regarding the crop," said a dealer.
Cocoa arrivals at ports in top grower Ivory Coast reached 2.138 million tonnes for the Oct. 1 - Aug. 4 period, up from 1.972 million tonnes during the same period last season.
Also weighing on London cocoa, sterling extended its recovery from last week's 31-month lows, making London cocoa more expensive for holders of other currencies.
Ghana will raise cocoa farm gate prices by 5.2pc for the 2019/20 season, the first increase in four years, following strong sales of export contracts.
Ivory Coast's first lady Dominique Ouattara met a delegation of US senators on Monday to appeal their call for an embargo on Ivorian cocoa over the alleged use of child labour.
COFFEE
September arabica coffee was down 0.3 cents, or 0.3pc, at 95.35 cents per lb at 1340 GMT, having hit a 1-1/2 month low on Monday of 94.30.
Coffee fell 1.6pc last week, with plentiful global supplies and a weakening Brazilian real pressuring the market.
The real hit a 2-month low versus the dollar on Monday, extending last week's sharp decline and tempting Brazilian traders to sell more dollar-priced coffee.
Colombia produced 1.31 million 60-kg bags of washed arabica coffee in July, up 25.3pc from the same month a year earlier.
Uganda's coffee exports climbed 6.6 percent in June from a year ago.
September robusta coffee was up $6, or 0.5pc, at $1,303 a tonne.
SUGAR
October raw sugar was up 0.07 cents, or 0.6pc, at 11.89 cents per lb, having hit a near two-week low of 11.69 cents on Monday.
Prices were underpinned by oil and global equities steadying, as some heat was taken out of the US-Sino trade war after China's central bank fixed the yuan at a slightly stronger rate.
Higher energy prices encourage Brazilian cane mills to produce more ethanol at the expense of sugar.
Sugar traders are still weighing signs of plentiful near-term supplies and weak demand against expectations of reduced futures supplies..
October white sugar was up $2.2, or 0.7pc, at $320.10 a tonne.
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