New throughout, includes comments, closing prices
NEW YORK/LONDON, Jan 13 (Reuters) – Coffee futures on ICE closed sharply down on Thursday, with robusta prices hitting the lowest since Dec. 1, on signs of easing supply tightness.
London cocoa hit its highest in 2-1/2 months, while New York cocoa rose more than 2%.
COFFEE
* March robusta coffee LRCc2 slid $45, or 2.0%, to $2,237 a tonne, hitting a 1-1/2-month low of $2,231 earlier in the session.
* Dealers cited talk that robusta coffee from Vietnam, the world’s top robusta producer, is finally heading to ICE-certified warehouses, as premiums for the coffee fall COFVN-G25-SAI, offsetting high shipping costs.
* Vietnam’s coffee exports in December rose 57.6% from November, though for 2021 as a whole, the country’s exports of coffee were down 0.2% from a year earlier, data showed.
* There were talks of improvements to the shipping situation also in other origins in Asia and Africa.
* March arabica coffee KCc1 fell 3.85 cents, or 1.6%, to $2.37 per lb.
* Brazilian coffee farmers sold 82% of the 2021/22 crop by Jan. 10, above the average of 74% for the period, consultancy Safras & Mercado said.
COCOA
* March London cocoa LCCc1 settled up 26 pounds, or 1.5%, at 1,733 pounds per tonne, having earlier hit a 2-1/2-month peak of 1,742.
* Cocoa is gaining ground from expectations demand for the chocolate ingredient is recovering while supplies are set to fall this season.
* Europe, Asia and U.S. fourth-quarter cocoa grind data, a measure of demand, will be released next week.
* Weather forecasters Climate 42 said while southeast Ivory Coast and southwest Ghana have received some rainfall in January, the rest of the cocoa regions in Africa have remained mostly dry.
* March New York cocoa CCc1 rose $50, or 2.0%, to $2,609 a tonne1.6% to $2,597 a tonne, having hit its highest since mid-December on at $2,629/tonne.
SUGAR
* March raw sugar SBc1 settled down 0.25 cent, or 1.4%, at 18.09 cents per lb, but remained some way off Monday’s 5-1/2-month trough of 17.60.
* Suedzucker SZUG.DE, Europe’s largest sugar producer, confirmed a jump of about 90% in third-quarter operating profit as improved sugar market prices boosted earnings.
* “With a further deficit in the 2021/22 marketing year, the world (sugar) market environment is expected to remain positive,” Suedzucker said.
* March white sugar LSUc1 fell $6.00, or 1.2%, to $497.30 a tonne.
(Reporting by Marcelo Teixeira and Maytaal Angel; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle and Jane Merriman and Marguerita Choy)
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