Sugar
The Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) witnessed a slight uptick in raw sugar futures on Tuesday amidst a slowdown in production in Brazil following a rapid start to the harvest. July raw sugar (SBc1) rose by 0.3% to 18.68 cents per lb at 1132 GMT. Analysts are eagerly awaiting data from industry group Unica, expected to be released in the coming days, which will provide insights into cane and sugar production in Centre-South Brazil for the latter half of May. According to a survey conducted by S&P Global Commodity Insights, sugar production is anticipated to have declined by 0.8% year-on-year to 2.90 million metric tons in the second half of May. Meanwhile, August white sugar (LSUc1) saw a 0.4% increase to $546.60 a ton.
Cocoa
In the cocoa market, September London cocoa (LCCc2) experienced a 1.6% rise, reaching 7,375 pounds a ton. Traders are closely monitoring the development of mid-crops in West Africa, where supplies remain extremely tight following poor main crops in Ivory Coast and Ghana. Although rains were below average in most of Ivory Coast’s primary cocoa-growing regions last week, farmers in the southern region reported a potential boost in development following adequate weekend rainfall for the April-to-September mid-crop. Additionally, September New York cocoa (CCc2) surged by 2.4% to $9,127 a ton.
Coffee
September robusta coffee (LRCc2) climbed by 0.7% to $4,110 a metric ton after reaching a record high of $4,394 last week. Traders attribute this increase to a significant slowdown in exports from Vietnam, the top robusta producer. Meanwhile, September arabica coffee (KCc2) rose by 0.2% to $2.2250 per lb.