LONDON: Raw sugar futures on ICE edged higher on Wednesday boosted partly by tight supplies in top consumer India, while arabica coffee prices also rose.
SUGAR
Raw sugar rose 0.7percent to 18.23 cents per lb at 1217 GMT. The market set a 16-month high of 18.77 cents a week ago. India’s port-based sugar refineries are likely to divert about 250,000 metric tons of refined sugar to the domestic market, an industry executive said on Wednesday. BMI analysts also said in a note that any El Nino-linked production disruptions in India would have a greater impact than in previous cycles due to low stocks.
White sugar gained 1.5percent at USD526.80 a metric ton. Food giants General Mills and Mars sued United Sugar, Domino owner ASR Group and other top US sugar producers, alleging they engaged in a years-long conspiracy to fix prices that caused manufacturers to pay inflated prices for a key ingredient in candies, cereal and other products.
COFFEE
Arabica coffee rose 1.4percent to USD2.9530 per lb, pulling further away from a five-week low of USD2.8660 set on Tuesday. Dealers said exchange stocks had fallen to a 26-year low although there had been a pick-up in the amount of coffee which is waiting to be graded. Robusta coffee gained 1.4percent to USD3,508 a ton.
COCOA London cocoa fell 1.1percent to £4,249 per ton. Ivorian cocoa traders, cooperatives and buying agents are struggling to use a new national traceability system introduced ahead of incoming European Union rules banning imports of commodities grown on recently deforested land. New York cocoa lost 0.7percent to USD5,874 a ton.