LONDON: Raw sugar futures on ICE rose on Tuesday after sinking to a three-month low in the previous session amid weak demand in Europe and improved near term supply availability. Arabica coffee and cocoa hit multi-month lows meanwhile.

SUGAR

May raw sugar was 1.1pc higher at 15.08 cents per lb at 1508 GMT, after slipping to a three-month low of 14.84 cents on Monday.

"Despite somewhat lower production in Brazil, forecasts expect more sugar to be produced globally in 2021/22: in India, there are many signs ... and the EU and Thailand are expected to see an improvement after the latest poor harvests," said Commerzbank in a note.

The bank added there were also concerns near term about demand given ongoing lockdowns in Europe.

Ethanol prices fell sharply in Brazil's largest consuming market last week as coronavirus lockdowns hurt demand, Cepea/Esalq, a University of Sao Paulo research centre, said.

Falling ethanol prices tend to tempt Brazilian mills to prioritize sugar production at the expense of the cane-based biofuel.

Dealers said end users will likely be looking for lower prices before buying more sugar, having stocked up recently.

May white sugar rose 0.2pc to $432 a tonne.

COFFEE

May arabica coffee fell 3pc to $1.2320 per lb??, having hit its lowest since mid-February at $1.2265.

Arabica is coming under pressure from a weak Brazilian real, which hit its lowest level in 20 days on Monday.

May robusta coffee fell 1.7pc to $1,353 a tonne.

Vietnam coffee exports in the first three months of the year are estimated to have fallen 17pc from a year earlier to 428,000 tonnes.

COCOA

May New York cocoa ??fell 3.7pc to $2,347 a tonne, having hit its lowest since mid-November at $2,336.

May London cocoa ??fell 2.1pc to 1,697 pounds per tonne?, having hit its lowest since mid-January at 1,693 pounds.

Above average rains mixed with sun last week in most of Ivory Coast's cocoa-producing regions have bolstered expectations for a strong April-to-September mid-crop, farmers said.