LONDON: Arabica coffee futures on ICE were lower on Thursday, retreating further from a 4-1/2 year high set this week, while raw sugar prices also weakened.

COFFEE

July arabica coffee fell by 0.95 cents, or 0.6%, to $1.6020 per lb by 1243 GMT. The front month set a 4-1/2 year high of $1.6675 on Tuesday.

Dealers said a pullback was not unexpected because the market had become technically overbought after the recent strong advance, but it remains underpinned by dry conditions in Brazil and delays to exports from Colombia.

Brazil's worst water crisis in almost a century will hamper river navigation and make transportation of goods more expensive in the world's largest exporter of commodities ranging from soybeans to coffee and sugar.

Anti-government protests in Colombia have blocked exports of about 800,000 60kg bags of coffee in May, according to projections from the local coffee growers federation on Wednesday.

July robusta coffee rose by $3, or 0.2%, to $1,604 a tonne.

Vietnam coffee export prices slid to discounts against the international benchmark as robusta prices in London rose last week on supply worries, traders said.

SUGAR

July raw sugar fell by 0.17 cents, or 1%, to 17.51 cents per lb.

Dealers said the market had slipped back towards the middle of its recent range, with a pick-up in the pace of sugar production in Brazil helping to pressure prices while the outlook for crops in India appeared favourable.

India's annual monsoon arrived on the Kerala coast on Thursday, the state-run weather office said, marking the start of the four-month rainy season crucial for the farm-dependent economy.

August white sugar fell by $2.60, or 0.6%, to $461.90 a tonne.

COCOA

September New York cocoa rose by $16, or 0.65%, to $2,482 a tonne.

September London cocoa fell by 2 pounds, or 0.1%, to 1,628 pounds a tonne.