Sugar rises before Brazil cane data, coffee steady

(Reuters) – Raw sugar futures rose on technically driven buying on Wednesday before Brazilian cane crush data, while coffee was steady and a firmer pound capped the upside in London cocoa.
Traders said data from Brazil’s cane industry association Unica was expected at 1300 GMT and that the buying could be linked to expectations the figures would show a cane crush hampered by rainfall in the second half of May.
October raw sugar was up 0.39 cent, or 2 percent, at 19.81 cents per lb at 1150 GMT, within sight of a 2-1/2-year peak of 19.92 cents touched on June 9.
One broker said raw sugar could soon test resistance at 20 cents a lb.
“It looks more likely that we’ll do that than the market will go the other way (down),” he said.
The Unica data was likely to show the impact of 4-5 days of crush in centre-south Brazil lost to rain in the second half of May.
S&P Global Platts said earlier this week it expected the crush to be 33.9 million tonnes, down 5.59 million on the previous fortnight.
Sucden Financial Sugar expects a crush of 33.3 million tonnes.
“The number is expected to be bullish, although much of it may as usual be written into the market, especially as the first half of June numbers are expected to be bullish with even more days lost to rain in the period,” said Nick Penney, senior trader with Sucden Financial Sugar.
August white sugar was up $8.80, or 1.7 percent, at $534.90 per tonne, after touching a contract high of $536.00.
Arabica coffee futures inched higher, underpinned by a softer dollar, and was pressured by an abundant harvest now under way in Brazil.
September arabica coffee rose 1.75 cents, or 1.3 percent, to $1.3880 per lb.
“Appetite for higher prices could see contracts test resistance around $1.40 with a close above this level bullish,” Sucden Financial Research said in a daily market comment.
July robusta coffee was up $4, or 0.25 percent, at $1,622 per tonne.
September London cocoa touched 2,301 pounds, the highest since early May, then lost ground to trade up 5 pounds, or 0.2 percent, at 2,297 pounds per tonne.
New York September cocoa was up $10, or 0.3 percent, to $3,114.