Raw sugar up, arabica coffee recovers

25 Sep, 2020

LONDON: Raw sugar prices edged back up towards the previous session's one-month high on Thursday, boosted by worries over adverse weather conditions in several growing regions.

Arabica coffee also nudged higher following eight consecutive sessions of falls.

March raw sugar was up 0.09 cent, or 0.7%, at 13.43 cents per lb at 1423 GMT after setting a one-month high on Wednesday of 13.57.

Sugar's gains bucked a slide in global shares and a rise in the dollar on investor concern about another economic hit from the Covid-19 pandemic.

Marex Spectron analyst Robin Shaw said the market was focussed near term on adverse weather in regions including Centre-South Brazil, Europe and Russia, although overall market supplies are plentiful.

The market is also concerned India, a top sugar producer, could offer less generous sugar export incentives for the next season.

Dutch bank Rabobank sees sugar consumption recovering in the 2020/21 season, partially offsetting an expected production increase and leaving the market with a small 200,000 tonne surplus.

December white sugar rose $2.80, or 0.8%, to $374 a tonne.

December arabica coffee rose 0.80 cent, or 0.7%, to $1.1305 per lb, having touched a two-month low of $1.0905 on Wednesday.

Arabica is steadying after plunging in the last eight sessions on an improving outlook for the 2021/22 coffee crop in top producer Brazil following rains. A weakened Brazilian real also prompted some exporters to sell dollar-priced coffee. A dealer said roasters had been tempted back into the market to buy coffee at around the $1.10 per lb level.

November robusta coffee was flat at $1,349 a tonne.

Coffee trading volumes remained tepid in Vietnam, the world's top robusta producer, though premiums in both Vietnam and Indonesia rose to compensate for subdued London prices.

December London cocoa rose 18 pounds, or 1%, to 1,829 pounds per tonne.

December New York cocoa rose $22, or 0.9%, to $2,583 a tonne.

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