Raw sugar futures on ICE edged up on Friday as the market consolidated after four successive daily declines, while arabica coffee prices also rose.
SUGAR
* October raw sugar SBc1 was up 0.2% at 17.81 cents per lb by 0917 GMT, although prices remained far below a 3-1/2 week high of 18.70 cents set on Monday.
* Prices have lost ground this week, with a rally driven largely by fund short-covering running out of steam.
* Dealers said the market had begun to refocus on fundamentals. A global surplus is expected in both the 2021/22 and 2022/23 seasons.
* “The hefty buying by short investors seems to have exhausted itself now. So, with that aggressive buyer absent, the market is calibrating back to fundamentals that suggest lower prices for raws,” Commonwealth Bank of Australia analyst Tobin Gorey said in a note.
* October white sugar LSUc1 rose 0.6% to $542.30 a tonne.
COFFEE
* December arabica coffee KCc2 rose 0.7% to $2.1335 per lb, although it was set for a weekly loss of about 4%.
* Prices climbed to a one-month high of $2.2340 late last week.
* Dealers said concerns about supply tightness were easing.
* They noted that ICE certified stocks were climbing as traders re-certify thousands of bags in a move which can remove age discounts.
* ICE certified arabica stocks as of Aug. 18 stood at 596,775 bags, up from a 23-year low of 571,580 bags set on Monday.
* November robusta coffee LRCc2 rose 1% to $2,241 a tonne.
COCOA
* December New York cocoa CCc2 fell 1.1% to $2,395 a tonne.
* Some cocoa-growing areas in Ivory Coast and Ghana, the world’s two largest producers, are experiencing mild stress from lack of water and need rain quickly, according to a report released on Thursday by forecaster Climate42.
* December London cocoa LCCc2 was down 0.1% at 1,825 pounds per tonne, with a decline in sterling to a three-week low against the dollar helping to underpin prices. GBP/
Source: Hellenic Shipping News
