LONDON: Raw sugar rose on Monday, extending last week’s gains as dealers focused on near-term supply tightness and improved sentiment thanks to the reopening of the Chinese economy.

Sugar

March raw sugar rose 1.2% to 20.33 cents per lb by 1245 GMT. It gained 2.5% last week and hit its highest in nearly six years at 20.73 cents.

Dealers said that March sugar is being boosted by a delayed crop in Brazil and Thailand, a reduced EU crop and a rain-affected Australian and Central American crop.

Also boosting sugar, the dollar fell while oil bounced as optimism over the Chinese economy outweighed concern over a global recession.

ICE raw sugar speculators raised their net long position by 8,707 contracts to 127,409 in the week to Dec. 13, data showed.

In India, the world’s No. 2 sugar exporter, 8.2 million tonnes of sugar have been produced since the start of the season on Oct. 1, against 7.8 million tonnes in the same period last year, data showed.

March white sugar settled 1.9% up to $557.40 a tonne.

Coffee

March arabica coffee rose 0.1% to $1.6455 per lb.

Arabica coffee rose 3.95% last week, a gain that is increasingly being viewed as overdone given that recent stocks data remains bearish.

ICE arabica coffee speculators trimmed their net short position by 4,410 contracts to 20,490 in the week to Dec. 13, data showed.

March robusta coffee slipped 0.1% to $1,865 a tonne.

Cocoa

March New York cocoa rose 0.5% to $2,487 a tonne, extending last week’s 1% gain.

ICE speculators cut their net short position in New York cocoa by 4,665 lots to 2,820 contracts in the week to Dec. 13, data showed.

London cocoa was flat at 1,966 pounds a tonne.