Sugar, coffee and cocoa futures closed firm on Monday in mostly rangebound dealings as the softs consolidated following last week's volatility and felt a lift from a strong commodity complex. "Overall commodities are supported across the board - grains, cotton, the energies - so it's carrying over into the softs," said Boyd Cruel, analyst for Vision Financial Markets in Chicago.
Raw sugar futures on ICE chopped around both sides of unchanged after last week's wild swings, on investor sales combined with doubts about the export outlook from No 2 producer India due to concerns about domestic inflation. New Delhi has said at least 500,000 tonnes will be exported, down from earlier expectations of 1.0 million tonnes, but the government will be cautious in allowing farm exports due to high food inflation.
March raws rose 0.21 cent to settle at 31.74 cents per lb, moving in an inside day. ICE benchmark March cocoa futures gained $31 to settle at $2,881 per tonne, an inside day. The contract continued to respect strong support around $2,825, the 78.6 percent Fibonacci retracement level. March arabicas on ICE gained 0.55 cent to close at $2.3125 per lb.