SOFTS-London cocoa slips on strong pound; sugar firms
LONDON, Aug 16 (Reuters) – London cocoa futures fell on Wednesday, pressured by the strength of sterling as the UK currency looked poised for its biggest one-day rise against the dollar in three weeks.
COCOA
* December London cocoa LCCc2 fell 0.4% to 2,697 pounds per metric ton by 1320 GMT.
* Dealers said the strength of the pound has led to the market retreating further from last week’s 46-year high of 2,759 pounds.
* The market remained underpinned, however, by concerns over crop disease in West Africa after recent heavy rains and expectations that there could be a third successive global deficit in the 2023/24 season.
* December New York cocoa CCc2 eased 0.1% to $3,431 a metric ton.
SUGAR
* October raw sugar SBc1 was up 1% at 24.00 cents per lb.
* Dealers noted that rain forecast over the next few days is likely to disrupt the cane harvest in Brazil’s Centre-South region.
* October white sugar LSUc1 rose 1% to $698.50 a metric ton.
* Egypt’s commodities exchange on Wednesday invited companies to register to trade sugar on the bourse, which already offers yellow corn and wheat.
COFFEE
* November robusta coffee LRCc2 fell 2.3% to $2,378 a metric ton.
* Robusta coffee prices are forecast to end the year below current levels but still register an annual increase of 28%, a Reuters poll of 10 traders and analysts showed on Wednesday.
* December arabica coffee KCc2 was down 0.2% at $1.51 per lb.
* Brazil’s Cooxupe, the world’s largest coffee co-operative and the country’s biggest coffee exporter, said on Wednesday the 2023 harvest in the areas where it operates had reached 81.9% of the fields by Aug. 11.
(Reporting by Nigel Hunt Editing by David Goodman, Kirsten Donovan)
((nigel.hunt@thomsonreuters.com; +44 (0) 7990 561421; Reuters Messaging: nigel.hunt.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net ))
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