Raw sugar prices on ICE slipped on Friday as fund short covering ran out of steam amid a weak real and excess stocks from last season. Coffee prices also fell while New York cocoa hit another 1-1/2 year high.
March raw sugar dipped 0.01 cent, or 0.08%, to 12.80 cents per lb by 1439 GMT, having hit a six-week high of 12.91 cents on Wednesday.
Sugar is struggling to extend gains despite recent downgrades to the production outlook in the United States and India, with producer selling of excess stocks capping the upside.
A dealer said 13 cents was proving to be sufficient resistance for now, adding there is little evidence that funds will be panicked into aggressively covering their short positions.
The Brazilian real has weakened this week, tempting producers in Brazil to sell dollar-priced commodities by raising their value in local currency terms.
Sugar mills in India's Maharashtra state were forced to delay the start of the new crushing season by a few weeks due to untimely heavy rains in October and November. French sugar group Tereos posted a loss of 21 million euros in the first half of 2019/2020, mainly hurt by low global and European sugar prices.
March white sugar fell by $1.9, or 0.6%, to $338.60 a tonne.
December white sugar, which expires on Friday, fell nearly 3% to hit its lowest since mid-September. Open interest on the contract stood at 762 lots as of Thursday's close, equating to just 38,100 tonnes of sugar.
March New York cocoa rose $14, or 0.5%, to $2,683 a tonne after earlier rising to a 1-/12 year peak of $2,692.
The front month cocoa in New York last traded at a premium of $88 a tonne against March.
March London cocoa was flat at 1,946 pounds a tonne after peaking at 1,970 pounds on Thursday, the highest in a year and a half.
A shortage of cocoa to tender against the December contract has been supporting prices. Front month London cocoa was last at a premium of 104 pounds to March.
Further out however, the outlook for production in top grower Ivory Coast remains generally favourable.
March arabica coffee was down 1.3 cents, or 1.1%, at $1.1025 per lb, heading for its first weekly loss in four amid a weak real.
Coffee prices are steadying, having been boosted of late by fund short covering against the backdrop of dry weather in Brazil and a potential tightening in Central American supplies. January robusta coffee fell $16, or 1.1%, to $1,405 per tonne.
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