* Radar shows rains falling on Brazil coffee, sugar belt
* Raw sugar sees sharpest day of gains in 3 wks
* Arabica coffee falls to near 3-wk low (Recasts with updated prices, market comment; adds byline, NEW YORK dateline)
By Luc Cohen and David Brough
NEW YORK/LONDON, Oct 22 (Reuters) - ICE raw sugar futures hit an eight-month high on Thursday, buoyed by concerns about the impact of rain and a strong El Nino weather pattern on top-grower Brazil's crop, with a move out of a recent tight trading range triggering technical buying.
Arabica coffee on ICE Futures U.S. fell to its lowest level in nearly three weeks on hopes that rains in Brazil, the world's top coffee producer, would aid the crop, while cocoa edged lower.
ICE March raw sugar settled up by 0.42 cent on Thursday, a 3 percent gain, at 14.60 cents per pound, after rising as high as 14.63 cents a pound, the highest since Feb. 20. That marked the sweetener's sharpest day of gains since Oct. 1.
The expected return of rains to growing regions in Brazil, coupled with expectations a strong El Nino would bring further precipitation, prompted concern that the adverse weather would delay harvest activities.
"The potential for harvest interruptions in Brazil is big," said Michael McDougall, director of commodities for Societe Generale in New York.
He added that a move above highs hit on Monday and last week at around 14.40 cents a lb triggered buy-stops that exaggerated gains, propelling sugar out of its recent trading range.
December white sugar settled up $4.9, a 1.3 percent gain, at $390.9 per tonne.
December arabica coffee settled down 1.15 cent, a 1 percent loss, at $1.1985 per pound, after falling as low as $1.1975 a lb, the lowest level since Oct. 2, as crop-boosting rains in Brazil and forecasts of more to come weighed on prices.
Concern that dry weather could hamper the flowering of Brazil's coffee crop propelled prices to a two-month high of $1.3760 on Oct. 12, but the market began to falter last week as forecasts predicted much-needed rains would arrive shortly.
Rain started falling over several regions of Brazil's coffee and sugar cane belt by Wednesday morning, predominantly in the states of São Paulo and Minas Gerais, radar imagery maps published by local forecaster Ipmet showed.
January robusta coffee settled up $9 on Thursday, a 0.6 percent gain, at $1,586 per tonne.
December New York cocoa settled down $6 on Thursday, a 0.2 percent loss, at $3,140 per tonne. It traded within a range of $3,118 and $3,185 a tonne.
ICE March London cocoa settled down 1 pound on Thursday at 2,124 pounds per tonne. (Editing by David Clarke, David Evans and Dan Grebler)
* Raw sugar sees sharpest day of gains in 3 wks
* Arabica coffee falls to near 3-wk low (Recasts with updated prices, market comment; adds byline, NEW YORK dateline)
By Luc Cohen and David Brough
NEW YORK/LONDON, Oct 22 (Reuters) - ICE raw sugar futures hit an eight-month high on Thursday, buoyed by concerns about the impact of rain and a strong El Nino weather pattern on top-grower Brazil's crop, with a move out of a recent tight trading range triggering technical buying.
Arabica coffee on ICE Futures U.S. fell to its lowest level in nearly three weeks on hopes that rains in Brazil, the world's top coffee producer, would aid the crop, while cocoa edged lower.
ICE March raw sugar settled up by 0.42 cent on Thursday, a 3 percent gain, at 14.60 cents per pound, after rising as high as 14.63 cents a pound, the highest since Feb. 20. That marked the sweetener's sharpest day of gains since Oct. 1.
The expected return of rains to growing regions in Brazil, coupled with expectations a strong El Nino would bring further precipitation, prompted concern that the adverse weather would delay harvest activities.
"The potential for harvest interruptions in Brazil is big," said Michael McDougall, director of commodities for Societe Generale in New York.
He added that a move above highs hit on Monday and last week at around 14.40 cents a lb triggered buy-stops that exaggerated gains, propelling sugar out of its recent trading range.
December white sugar settled up $4.9, a 1.3 percent gain, at $390.9 per tonne.
December arabica coffee settled down 1.15 cent, a 1 percent loss, at $1.1985 per pound, after falling as low as $1.1975 a lb, the lowest level since Oct. 2, as crop-boosting rains in Brazil and forecasts of more to come weighed on prices.
Concern that dry weather could hamper the flowering of Brazil's coffee crop propelled prices to a two-month high of $1.3760 on Oct. 12, but the market began to falter last week as forecasts predicted much-needed rains would arrive shortly.
Rain started falling over several regions of Brazil's coffee and sugar cane belt by Wednesday morning, predominantly in the states of São Paulo and Minas Gerais, radar imagery maps published by local forecaster Ipmet showed.
January robusta coffee settled up $9 on Thursday, a 0.6 percent gain, at $1,586 per tonne.
December New York cocoa settled down $6 on Thursday, a 0.2 percent loss, at $3,140 per tonne. It traded within a range of $3,118 and $3,185 a tonne.
ICE March London cocoa settled down 1 pound on Thursday at 2,124 pounds per tonne. (Editing by David Clarke, David Evans and Dan Grebler)
Δεν υπάρχουν σχόλια:
Δημοσίευση σχολίου