White sugar, robusta coffee steady with U.S. markets shut

(Reuters) – London white sugar, robusta coffee and cocoa futures prices steadied in light volumes on Monday with U.S. softs markets closed for the Independence Day holiday.
In sugar, dealers took stock of U.S. data on Friday showing that speculators slightly cut a record bullish bet on ICE Futures U.S. in the week to June 28.
Dealers spoke of steady progress with the cane harvest in generally favourable weather in centre-south Brazil, and noted that monsoon rains have covered nearly all of India, the world’s second-biggest sugar producer after Brazil.
Brazil’s centre-south cane belt processed 25.8 million tonnes of cane in the first half of June, below 32.4 million tonnes in the second half of May and far below market expectations, industry group Unica said on Friday.
India’s monsoon delivers nearly 70 percent of rains that the country needs to water farms, and recharge reservoirs and aquifers.
In raw sugar,  the most active contract had peaked on Thursday at 21.22 cents per lb, its highest since October 2012, supported by a shift of the global sugar market into deficit after years of surpluses.
August white sugar was up $1.80, or 0.3 percent, at $565.80 per tonne at 1111 GMT, having surged on Thursday to a contract high at $573.20.
London robusta coffee futures held steady in light turnover, underpinned by a very poor harvest in Brazil.
September robusta coffee was down $5, or 0.3 percent, at $1,740 per tonne.
“We could see some consolidation today as near term resistance around $1,745 tests traders’ appetite for higher prices,” Sucden Financial Research said in a note.
London cocoa was up 6 pounds, or 0.25 percent, at 2,378 pounds per tonne, after touching a contract high of 2,382 pounds.