LONDON: Robusta coffee futures on ICE rose to an eight-month high on Wednesday, buoyed by resilient demand and declining exchange stocks, while sugar and cocoa prices fell.

COFFEE

November robusta coffee rose $17, or 1.2%, to $1,438 a tonne by 1330 GMT after touching an eight-month peak of $1,444.

Dealers said fundamentals for robusta were supportive, with a slight decline in production in top grower Vietnam expected in the 2020/21 season.

They said a switch to in-home consumption has benefited robusta demand and that tenderable exchange stocks had been declining. Stocks were at 109,080 tonnes at Aug. 25, down from more than 150,000 tonnes a year ago.

December arabica coffee was up 2.45 cents, or 2%, at $1.2540 per lb.

SUGAR

October raw sugar was down 0.11 cents, or 0.9%, at 12.65 cents per lb.

Dealers said the market lacked a clear overall trend with strong production in Brazil offset by the prospect of lower output in Thailand, the European Union and Russia.

Analyst Agritel said it forecast combined production in the EU and Britain at 15.98 million tonnes in 2020/21, down 7% from the previous season, with the steepest decline in top grower France.

October white sugar fell $0.50, or 0.1%, to $361.80 a tonne.

COCOA

December New York cocoa fell $15, or 0.6%, to $2,472 a tonne.

Dealers said the market remained underpinned by concerns that dry weather could curb production in West Africa during the upcoming 2020/21 season.

Nigeria's cocoa output is likely to drop by at least 20%, the president of the cocoa association said.

December London cocoa was down 17 pounds, or 1.0%, at 1,698 pounds a tonne.