Raw sugar futures on ICE hit their lowest in more than a month on Thursday as oil prices remained steady despite escalating hostilities between the U.S. and Iran, while coffee prices gained.
SUGAR
* Raw sugar fell 0.7% to 13.82 cents per lb at 1448 GMT, having earlier hit its lowest since late April at 13.77.
* Oil prices were nearly flatas investors weighed the U.S.-Iran war escalation againstthe actualimpact onoil supplies.
* Lower oil prices are bearish for sugar because they encourage cane mills to favor sugar output over ethanol, a biofuel typically made from cane or corn.
* "This market weakness is flying in the face of signs that El Nino has begun to arrive. Heavy rain is expected in southern Brazil. The cane harvest in Argentina has been disrupted for days due to heavy rain," said consultant and broker Michael McDougall.
* White sugar edged up 0.3% to $445.10 a metric ton.
COFFEE
* Arabica coffee rose 2.2% to $2.5385 per lb. The market slumped to a 1-1/2-year low of $2.4270 on Tuesday.
* The market's overall focus remained on Brazil's harvest with a near-record crop expected, but showers are set to slow progress in some areas this week.
* Cooxupe, Brazil's largest coffee co-operative, said on Wednesday that its farmers had harvested 12% of their 2026 crop as of June 5, below the 13.7% reported at the same time last year.
* Robusta coffee gained 2.7% to $3,446 a ton.
COCOA
* London cocoa edged down 0.4% to £2,864 a ton.
* Dealers said heavy rains have been reported in No. 3 grower Ecuador as the El Nino weather pattern starts to form.
* The weather pattern is denting the outlook for the 2026/27 crop, but for now, cocoa port arrivals in top grower Ivory Coast are picking up pace and there is a generally favourable outlook for the rest of the 2025/26 mid-crop.
* New York cocoa fell 1.1% to $3,716 a ton.
(Reuters)