SOFTS — Cocoa slides, raw sugar steadies after touching three — week low

LONDON, Sept 18 (Reuters) — Cocoa futures on ICE fell around 5% on Friday, heading for a third consecutive week of losses, while raw sugar steadied after touching a three-week low. Cocoa London cocoa fell 4.3% to £4,227 per ton at 1326 GMT. A dealer said this season's surplus is weighing on prices, plus there are fears that the recent run-up in prices dented demand in the third quarter. Elsewhere, rains in West Africa have been sparse of late, but against that the market is expecting a buildup in supplies at ports as the new marketing season gets underway. Ivory Coast has said cocoa shipments are expected to accelerate in the coming weeks as a new marketing system gets underway, with nearly 26,000 tons having already arrived at ports between the season start on September 1 and September 13. New York cocoa fell 4.9% to $5,603 a ton, having hit a 1-1/2-month low of $5,530 earlier. Sugar Raw sugar ​rose 0.4% to 17.49 cents per lb, after setting a three-week low of 17.34 cents. Oil prices edged lower, tempting cane mills to produce more sugar and less of the biofuel ethanol. Rains in top grower Brazil are forecast to subside over the next 10 days or so, dealers said, lessening the risk