SOFTS-Raw sugar hits 5-1/2 month high; NY cocoa falls

15 November 2022, New Delhi: Raw sugar futures on ICE rose to the highest prices in more than five months on Monday on fund buying, while New York cocoa futures fell from the prior session’s six-month high.

SUGAR

* March raw sugar settled up 0.19 cent, or 1.0%, at 19.83 cents per lb, after hitting 19.98 earlier, the highest price since late May.

* Dealers said there was strong buying from speculators that seemed to be building a large long position in the sweetener.

CFTC data on Monday

showed speculators have switched back to a net long position in raw sugar in the week to Nov. 8.

* There continued to be talking in the market about possible defaults by Indian sugar mills on previously clinched sugar export deals, which might have sent some traders to cover short positions in futures markets.

* December white sugar, which expires on Tuesday, rose $2, or 0.4%, at $568.50 a tonne.

COCOA

* March New York cocoa fell $20, or 0.8%, to $2,498 a tonne, retreating from Friday’s six-month peak of $2,577.

* Dealers said the end of a dock strike in top grower Ivory Coast helped to put the market on the defensive, as well as a stronger dollar.

* March London cocoa fell 8 pounds, or 0.4%, to 1,963 pounds per tonne.

* Below-average rains mixed with sunshine in most of Ivory Coast’s cocoa-growing regions seen last week were encouraging for the development of the last stage of the October-to-March main crop, farmers said on Monday.

COFFEE

* March arabica coffee settled down 1.2 cents, or 0.7%, at $1.669 per lb.

* Dealers said a large inflow of arabica coffee into ICE-approved warehouses remained a bearish influence.

* ICE certified coffee stocks rose to 468,291 bags as of Nov. 14, climbing further from a 23-year low of 382,695 bags set on Nov. 3. There were 541,030 bags in Antwerp pending grading.

* Brazil’s government reported that the daily average of coffee exports in November was at 11,440 tonnes at the end of the second week of the month versus 9,200 tonnes at the same time last year.

* January robusta coffee fell $12, or 0.7%, at $1,824 a tonne.

Also Read: CropLife India appoints Durgesh C Sharma as the new Secretary General

(For Latest Agriculture News & Updates, follow Krishak Jagat on Google News)