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 of disruption to crush.
* Elsewhere, China's August sugar imports fell 13.5% to 650,000 tons, data showed.
* In India, meanwhile, the government has relaxed the sugar stockholding limit for bulk consumers from 15 to 30 days, and urged traders to pass on lower ex-mill prices to consumers.
* White sugar rose 0.4% to $510.50 a ton.
COFFEE
* Arabica coffee rose 0.6% to $2.7825 per lb, after hitting a 2-1/2-month low of $2.7505.
* Coffee is under pressure overall from an increase in ICE arabica stocks, increased Brazilian exports and beneficial weather in Brazil and Vietnam.
* Robusta coffee rose 0.5% to $3,407 a metric ton.
(Reuters)
