LONDON: Raw sugar futures on ICE steadied on Monday after earlier heading back towards their highest level in more than a year, while white sugar scaled a fresh 16-month top as speculators moved money into the sweetener amid growing supply worries.
SUGAR
Raw sugar was flat at 16.60 cents per lb at 1247 GMT, having earlier neared last week’s more than one-year high of 17.11 cents. White sugar rose 0.8percent to USD513.40 a metric ton, having hit its highest price since mid-April 2025 at USD520.40. Broker and consultant Michael McDougall said speculators are increasingly interested in sugar due to worries over the impact of the El Nino weather pattern on production.
“In India, the monsoon is down 13percent as of today and Brazil is still not seeing rain. Imagine what happens if Brazil does begin seeing rain?” McDougall said. El Nino typically brings excess rains in the second half of the year in top grower Brazil. Those rains can disrupt and reduce the quality of the harvest.
The US Climate Prediction Center has upgraded its forecast for what is likely to be a very strong El Nino and the global sugar market is widely expected to move into deficit next season.
COFFEE
ICE arabica coffee rose 1 percent to USD3.1730 per lb, having hit a three-week high last week. “Nearby arabica (supply) remains genuinely tight (and) certified stocks are extremely low,” said coffee broker and consultant Michael J. Nugent.
He added, however, that he thinks coffee is no longer in a bull market as the long-term supply picture is increasingly improving, especially in top grower Brazil.
Robusta coffee rose 0.7percent to USD3,618 a ton, having hit a 1-1/2-month low last week.
COCOA
ICE London cocoa rose 2.8percent to £4,286 a ton, having fallen 3percent last week. More than half of Nigeria’s cocoa beans will initially fail to comply with a looming EU anti-deforestation law, according to industry experts who note that the situation, which is similar across West Africa, is set to raise supply concerns in the European Union.