Raw sugar slips after hitting two-month low in previous session

24 Jul, 2019

SUGAR

October raw sugar was down 0.09 cents, or 0.8pc at 11.89 cents per lb at 1137 GMT, having hit a two-month low of 11.45 cents on Tuesday.

Recent large deliveries against July raws and August whites have heightened concerns over excess stocks and poor Asian demand even though a market deficit is widely expected next season.

"Overall there's still a lot of sugar that needs to find a home and cash prices are very weak," said Nick Penney, senior sugar trader at Sucden Financial, adding there might be short-term upside after a technically constructive reversal off Tuesday's lows.

In the news, India, a top sugar producer, has decided to keep the minimum cane buying price steady at 275 rupees ($3.99) per 100 kg for the next marketing season starting from Oct. 1, the government said.

"Its bearish, it means cane in India is still the most profitable crop by far despite the fact that world sugar prices are coming down," said Penney.

October white sugar was down $1.20, or 0.4pc, at $317.10 a tonne.

COCOA

September New York cocoa was down $17, or 0.7pc, at $2,492 a tonne.

The main focus remains on top producers Ivory Coast and Ghana's attempts to implement a "living income differential" of $400 a tonne on all cocoa sales contracts for 2020/21, with details on how the move will work in practice still unclear.

In the news, the farmgate price for Ivory Coast's upcoming cocoa main crop will rise to 800 CFA francs ($1.35) per kilo, a 6.6pc increase on the previous season, two sources at the Coffee and Cocoa Council (CCC) said.

September London cocoa was flat at 1,853 pounds a tonne.

COFFEE

September arabica coffee was up 0.5 cents, or 0.5pc, at $1.0665 per lb after dipping to a four-week low of $1.0240 on Tuesday.

Jollibee Foods Corp, the Philippines' largest food service network operator, is buying US brand Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf (CBTL) for $100 million as part of an expansion outside its home market.

September robusta coffee was flat at $1,369 a tonne.

Copyright Reuters, 2019

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