SOFTS-Raw Sugar Nears 4-Year High, Whites at 2012 Peak

(Reuters) – Raw sugar futures on ICE flirted with their highest level in more than four years on Wednesday, buoyed by renewed expectations for No. 2 grower India to import the sweetener, while white sugar hit the highest price since 2012.

Cocoa fell on lower-than-expected arrivals in top grower Ivory Coast. Robusta coffee futures moved further below last week’s 19-month high while arabica fell as dealers focused on abundant supplies.

India, which is also the world’s biggest sugar consumer, is likely to import 1 million tonnes of sugar in 2016-17 as its consumption could outpace production, a Louis Dreyfus Commodities spokesman said.

The head of the Indian Sugar Mills Association said the country’s output will likely fall below consumption levels for the first time in seven years.

Traders said that those expectations, combined with strong chart-based signals, helped lift sugar prices.

March raw sugar settled up 0.34 cent, or 1.5 percent, at 23.78 cents per lb, after rising to 23.85 cents, just below last week’s peak of 23.88 cents, the highest since July 2012.

Open interest in October continued to fall steadily, dropping 16,261 lots to 38,378 lots on Tuesday, ahead of the contract’s expiry this Friday. Dealers noted limited appetite to tender sugar.

December white sugar futures settled up $6.80, or 1.1 percent, at $612 per tonne, the highest since August 2012.

Cocoa prices fell, extending the session’s losses after a government spokesman said bean arrivals at ports in Ivory Coast reached 1,565,000 tonnes in 2015/16, beating exporters’ estimates.

New York December cocoa settled down $43, or 1.5 percent, at $2,825 per tonne, while London March cocoa settled down 25 pounds, or 1.1 percent, at 2,208 pounds per tonne.

November robusta coffee settled up $1, or 0.05 percent, at $1,996 per tonne, hovering below last week’s peak of $2,028, its highest since February 2015 due to supply concerns.

“There’s a lot of concern about consistent and adequate supply in the market, particularly for robusta, because we’re going to go into a deficit year (for robusta),” said Abah Ofon, analyst for Agrimoney’s Global Coffee Monitor.

Drought in Brazil’s robusta growing regions has forced industry layoffs of workers who transport, process and store the commodity in warehouses, traders and industry executives said.

December arabica futures settled down 0.6 cent, or 0.4 percent, at $1.531 per lb