* Sugar finally rebounds after prolonged slide
* Cocoa underpinned by Ivory Coast security concerns
* Arabica coffee turns up after hitting 8-week low
(New throughout, updates prices; adds analyst comment, second
byline/dateline)
By Marcy Nicholson and Sarah McFarlane
NEW YORK/LONDON, Aug 17 (Reuters) – Raw sugar futures on ICE
touched a two-month low on Friday before turning higher,
tracking toward their first higher close in 14 sessions on fresh
hopes for European Central Bank intervention in the euro zone
debt crisis.
Cocoa futures jumped on security concerns in top producer
Ivory Coast, and arabica coffee turned higher after hitting an
eight-week low, as German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s apparent
support of ECB intervention sparked broad buying in commodities.
“There’s buying everywhere today. There’s some general
buying involved here,” said Jack Scoville, an analyst at Price
Futures Group in Chicago.
Benchmark October sugar futures on ICE rose 0.18
cent, or 0.9 percent, to 20.33 cents a lb by 12:16 p.m. EDT
(1616 GMT). The contract touched 20.11 cents earlier in the
session, the lowest level for the front month since June 15.
“Coffee and sugar both have been really beat up and deserve
some sort of short-covering rally, because they’ve been left for
the vultures to pick over,” Scoville said.
“As hammered as both those markets have been over the past
couple weeks, to see a short-covering rally at the end of the
week is no big surprise.”
The 13-session drop put raw sugar futures in technically
oversold levels on the 14-day relative strength index.
Dealers noted that while the weather had improved in the
world’s second-largest sugar cane grower India, monsoon rains
remained below average, helping underpin prices which have slid
over 10 percent since the start of the month.
“Sugar has been in a down trend, it’s pure fundamentals,”
said Andrey Kryuchenkov, analyst at VTB Capital.
“We’ve seen a delay to the monsoon in South East Asia but
conditions are improving.”
India’s top three cane-producing states of Maharashtra,
Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka received good rainfall in the past
week, except in some pockets where showers were below average.
“A break below 20 cents on the front-month could see losses
all the way to 18.90 cents,” added Kryuchenkov.
White sugar October futures on Liffe rose $1.70, or
0.3 percent, to $561.20 per tonne.
SECURITY CONCERN
Cocoa futures jumped but remained rangebound as dealers
monitored the security situation in Ivory Coast where a recent
spate of attacks has caused concern.
“Incidents are becoming a bit more frequent which has to be
watched,” said a European trader.
Gunmen attacked security posts and freed more than 100
prisoners in a town west of Ivory Coast’s commercial capital
Abidjan during an overnight raid that ended on Thursday morning,
officials and local residents said.
ICE December cocoa futures settled up $42, or 1.8
percent, at $2,442. The market rose to a peak on Monday of
$2,501, the highest level for the benchmark second month since
November 2011.
In London, the December contract remained the most
expensive, indicating uncertainty over the pace of exports from
top producer Ivory Coast at the start of the coming season which
opens on Oct. 1.
December cocoa futures finished up 18 pounds, or 1.1
percent, at 1,631 pounds per tonne.
“October to December is when any problems with Ivory Coast’s
new system will delay exports,” said a second trader.
Arabica coffee futures turned higher on broad based
short-covering after feeling continued harvest pressure from top
producer Brazil earlier.
“Roasters don’t seem to be buyers, in New York they have
significant cover,” said a London-based broker, noting there was
usually a seasonal lull in August.
ICE certified arabica stocks continued to rise to the
highest level in nearly two years, reaching nearly 1.85 million
bags by Aug. 16, with more than 109,000 bags pending grading.
December arabicas on ICE were up 0.60 cent, or 0.4
percent, at $1.6240 a lb. The contract earlier slid to $1.6025,
the lowest level for the second month since June 26.
November robusta coffee futures inched up $4, or 0.2
percent, to $2,107 a tonne.
(Additional reporting by Nigel Hunt in London; editing by
Alison Birrane and Keiron Henderson)
