Raw sugar plumbs 1-1/2-year lows

Raw sugar futures on ICE hit new 1-1/2 year lows on Thursday over concerns that in energy prices in Brazil will prompt mills there to produce more sugar at the expense of ethanol, a cane-based biofuel.
Arabica coffee continued to buck the trend, edging up amid tight supplies and fears over container shortages at ports.
May raw sugar ??was down 0.2 cents, or 1.8%, at 10.48 cents per lb at 1448 GMT, having earlier hit its lowest since September 2018 at 10.44.
Brazil's Petrobras on Wednesday cut gasoline prices by 12% at the country's refineries, the second large reduction in a week, as the state-controlled oil company adjusts to falling global oil prices.
The cut will likely weigh on ethanol prices in Brazil, making sugar a more attractive option for cane mills.
Crude oil prices bounced off 18-year lows on Thursday however, as investors assessed the impact of massive central bank stimulus measures introduced to stem the coronavirus-induced financial rout.
Also weighing on sugar was weakness in the Brazilian real , which induces millers there to sell more dollar-priced sugar as its value rises in local currency terms.
May white sugar fell $2.80, or 0.8%, to $333 a tonne, having hit its lowest since last November. May arabica coffee rose 1.1 cents, or 1%, to $1.0940 per lb, having closed up 5% on Wednesday.
A dealer said talk of container shortages at ports in top producer Brazil and beyond were boosting arabica, as was general supply tightness.
ICE certified stocks totalled 2.08 million bags at the last count, versus 2.18 million at end-January.
Soaring arabica premiums in the physical markets are deterring traders from delivering coffee to the exchange where it commands little, if any, mark-up.
May robusta coffee fell $9, or 0.7% to $1,218 a tonne.
May New York cocoa fell $49, or 2.2%, to $2,226 a tonne, having hit a six-month low.
ICE has reduced its spot month position limit for cocoa futures to 50 lots. May London cocoa fell 26 pounds, or 1.4%, to 1,789 pounds per tonne.