Raw sugar futures hovered on Tuesday above a 6-1/2-year low, pressured by a weak Brazilian currency and hefty stocks in Asia, while arabica coffee futures firmed and cocoa held steady in light volumes.
October raw sugar futures on ICE traded up 0.07 cent at 10.96 cents a lb at 1042 GMT, after falling on Monday to 10.84 cents, the lowest since December 2008.
Huge Thai and Indian sugar stocks weighed on prices.
October white sugar were up $0.20 at $347.30 a tonne.
“The influence of the real (Brazilian currency) and the very strong dollar has ultimately been the driver of the weakness in sugar prices for some time now,” said Tracey Allen, commodities economist with Rabobank.
“The other factor is that we have fairly good weather in the centre-south of Brazil and that's enabling the harvest to progress relatively rapidly for the time being.” September arabica futures were up 0.7 cents at $1.2465/lb.
“Because there isn't a fundamental story for the market to hold on to, it's following the commodities complex and the fundamentals of the dollar,” said Ricardo Santos, coffee trader with Equatorial Traders.
He was referring to a softer dollar against a basket of currencies, underpinning dollar-based arabica and robusta coffee futures.
September robusta futures were up $8 at $1,633 a tonne, after touching a two-month low of $1,621 on Monday.
New York September cocoa rose $8 to $3,174. London September cocoa firmed £7 at £2,117a tonne.