LONDON: ICE raw sugar futures broke through 16 cents on Monday to hit their highest in nearly 3-1/2 years on tightening supplies and as funds piled into commodities, betting the rollout of coronavirus vaccines would ultimately lift the global economy.

March raw sugar was up 2.7% at 15.91 cents per lb?? at 1519 GMT, having hit a high of 16.13 cents.

The contract gained 15.4% last year, with the International Sugar Organization forecasting a global deficit of 3.5 million tonnes in the 2020/21 season.

Sugar supplies are tightening because top producer Brazil is between harvests, Indian export flows cannot make up for delays earlier in the season and production in Thailand remains disappointing.

Indian sugar mills produced 11 million tonnes of sugar in the first three months of the 2020/21 marketing year, up 42% from a year earlier.

March white sugar was up 2.8% at $432.80 a tonne, having hit its highest in nearly a year. The contract gained 17.2% last year.

March arabica coffee fell 1.8% to $1.2775 per lb after touching its highest in nearly four months.

The front month lost 1.1% last year owing to a huge crop in top producer Brazil, though the prospect of a smaller crop this year is helping to underpin prices.

March robusta coffee fell 0.9% to $1,374 a tonne. The contract ended the year little changed.

March New York cocoa rose 0.1% to $2,535 a tonne. The contract registered a gain of 2.5% last year, boosted partly by a decline in certified exchange stocks.

Cocoa arrivals at ports in top grower Ivory Coast reached 1.124 million tonnes between Oct. 1 and Jan. 3, exporters estimated, down 4.9% year on year.

March London cocoa rose 0.8% to 1,690 pounds a tonne. The contract registered a loss of 4.5% last year.