(Reuters) – Raw sugar and arabica coffee futures rose on Monday, supported by worries about a cold snap in Brazil, while London cocoa climbed to a four-week high boosted by weakness of sterling.
SUGAR
* July raw sugar rose 0.22 cents, or 1.54 percent, to 14.49 cents per lb by 1156 GMT.
* Prices were supported by cold weather in Brazil, the world’s top sugar producer, amid growing concerns about the chance of damage to cane.
* “Frost in CS Brazil wasn’t a major deal over the weekend, but signals that risks remain from a fundamental perspective,” analyst Green Pool said in a weekly report.
* Technicals were adding support, after the market managed to climb above the short-term moving average in early trade and dealers noted prices were testing resistance around 14.50 cents.
* August white sugar rose in tandem, gaining $5.20, or 1.25 percent, to $422.10 a tonne.
* Speculators boosted their bearish bet in sugar to their biggest net short position in the commodity since early September 2015, exchange data showed on Friday.
COFFEE
* July arabica coffee rose 1.85 cents, or 1.46 percent, to $1.2840 per lb, also boosted by the weather outlook in Brazil, the world’s largest producer of arabica coffee.
* “The cold snap looks as if it’s going further and further north towards those coffee areas,” said one dealer. “So it’s not quite frost territory yet for coffee growing areas but it certainly looking more and more of a possibility as each day goes on.”
* More supportive technicals have recently also curbed fund selling, taking some of the pressure off prices.
* July robusta also gained $23, or 1.15 percent, to$2,025 a tonne, after hitting $2,027, its highest since April 21.
COCOA
* September London cocoa was up 10 pounds, or 0.62 percent, at 1,620 pounds a tonne, after hitting a four week high of 1,632 pounds.
* “Most of the improvement the last few days has been to do with the weakening in sterling,” said Edward George, head of group research at Ecobank.
* Sterling fell broadly on Monday as investors worried about the impact of political uncertainty on a British economy already slowing sharply ahead of the launch of talks on leaving the European Union due to begin next week.
* September New York cocoa rose $9, or 0.44 percent, to $2,047 a tonne.
