Raw sugar rebounds from 3-1/2 week low, cocoa also recovers

(Updates prices, adds details) LONDON, Sept 21 (Reuters) — Raw sugar futures on ICE rose on Monday, recovering after setting a 3-1/2-week low earlier in the session, while cocoa bounced off a near 6-week trough. 26 cents. Raw sugar speculators cut their net long position, essentially bets on price gains, by 584 contracts to 105,531 in the week to September 15, data showed. Raw sugar hit a 15-month peak earlier this month, but has since come under pressure from profit taking by investors who are waiting to see the results of El Nino-linked weather damage, dealers said.

Against that, sugar remains underpinned by lower beet production in Europe, reduced 2026/27 output prospects in Asia due to a lack of rains, and lower output in top grower Brazil due to excess rains. Indonesia sugar cane production is expected to drop by around 25% this year due to dry weather conditions and wildfires. 70 a metric ton. 5% to £4,114 per metric ton, having hit a near six-week low of £4,036.

Cocoa arrivals at ports in top grower Ivory Coast totalled 16,000 metric tons for the week ending September 20, for a total of 20,500 tons since the start of the 2026/27 season. "Comfortable near-term supplies continued to weigh on the market. Exchange-monitored (cocoa) inventories remain relatively ample, while demand recovery has been slow as manufacturers continue efforts to reduce cocoa usage," ING said in a note. It added, however, that cocoa remains underpinned by an expected 2026/27 supply deficit.

Rainfall was below average last week in most of Ivory Coast's main cocoa-growing regions, and farmers said dry conditions could threaten the development of the September-to-February main crop. New York cocoa was little changed at $5,450 a ton. 6665. Coffee is under pressure overall from an increase in ICE arabica stocks, rising exports from top grower Brazil and beneficial weather in Brazil and Vietnam.

4% to $3,316 a ton. com/in/may-angel-03b69a41/;)