Raw sugar prices fall as Indian crop outlook improves

Reuters

Raw sugar prices fall as Indian crop outlook improves

2024 8월 1, 오후 7:03 GMT

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Adds comments on coffee, updates prices

NEW YORK, Aug 1 (Reuters) - Raw sugar futures on ICE closed down on Thursday after stronger than normal monsoon rains in India improved the outlook for cane crops. Cocoa and coffee also fell, with robusta coffee falling to the lowest in four weeks.

SUGAR

* October raw sugar SBc1 settled down 0.44 cent, or 2.3%, at 18.50 cents per lb.

* Dealers said higher than normal monsoon rainfall in India was beneficial for cane crops and should lead to a build-up in stocks in a country that is one of the world's top producers.

* India is set to receive above-average monsoon rainfall as a La Nina weather pattern forms in August and September, a weather official said on Thursday, promising to boost farm output and growth in Asia's third-biggest economy.

* The market was underpinned, however, by diminished prospects for production in Centre-South Brazil, with the region set to remain dry in the coming weeks.

* October white sugar LSUc1 fell 2.1% at $523.50 a metric ton.

COFFEE

* September robusta coffee LRCc1 fell 0.7% to $4,233 a ton, having hit a four-week low of $4,158/ton.

* Dealers said the market was pressured by an increased flow of arabica and conillon (robusta) supplies from Brazil, where the harvest is in its final stages.

* Broker Hedgepoint Global Markets said in a note that Indonesia is also offering more coffee (robusta) in the market, as its harvest reaches a peak point.

* A drop in exports of robusta coffee from Vietnam, however, continued to underpin prices.

* "The news of lower exports from Vietnam has kept the prices from falling further," a trader based in Vietnam's coffee belt said.

* September arabica coffee KCc1 fell 0.9% at $2.2725 per lb, having hit a near one-month low at $2.2525/lb.

COCOA

* September London cocoa LCCc1 settled down 423 pounds, or 6.6%, to 6,004 pounds per ton. The contract hit a one-month low earlier at 5,971 pounds/ton.

* Dealers said the weather in West Africa remained generally favourable for 2024/25 main crops.

* U.S. chocolate makerHershey HSY.N cut its profit and sales forecast on Thursday, as higher prices impacted consumer buying.

* September New York cocoa CCc1 fell 6.5% to $7,562 a ton.

Reporting by Nigel Hunt and Marcelo Teixeira; Editing by David Goodman, David Holmes and Mohammed Safi Shamsi

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