Cocoa falls to near one-year lows while sugar climbs

Cocoa futures on ICE fell to near one-year lows on Thursday as the main crop harvest got underway in top grower Ivory Coast while sugar prices were higher.

COCOA

* London cocoa C2! fell 2.5% to 4,592 pounds a metric ton by 1418 GMT after hitting a low of 4,589 pounds, the weakest level in nearly one year.

* Dealers noted the main crop harvest in top grower Ivory Coast was underway, with early arrivals set to be boosted by some cocoa held over to benefit from a rise in the farmgate price.

* Ivory Coast has raised the fixed farmgate price paid to cocoa farmers by over 55.6% to 2,800 CFA per kg for the 2025/26 main crop, President Alassane Ouattara said on Wednesday.

* Dealers said demand remained weak with third quarter grind data for Europe, North America and Asia expected to show year-on-year declines in all three regions.

* Grind reports for Europe and North America are both scheduled to be issued on October 16.

* New York cocoa CC2! was down 2.3% at $6,573 a ton after slumping to a near one-year low of $6,559.

SUGAR

* Raw sugar SB1! rose 1.9% to 16.44 cents per lb.

* Dealers said a year-on-year rise in sugar production in Center-South Brazil was broadly in line with expectations.

* Sugar production in Brazil's key center-south region rose 15.72% in the first half of September compared to the year-earlier period, hitting 3.62 million metric tons, industry group UNICA said on Thursday.

* White sugar SF1! gained 2.2% to $462.70 a ton.

COFFEE

* Arabica coffee KC2! fell 0.9% to $3.6490 per lb.

* Dealers said a 50% tariff on US imports of Brazilian coffee was contributing to an expected fall in shipments from the world's top grower this year.

* Brazil's total coffee exports, including processed beans, are expected to end 2025 between 40 million and 41 million 60-kg bags, an executive at exporter group Cecafe said. Last year, Brazil exported a record volume of 50.58 million bags.

* Robusta coffee RC2! fell 1.1% to $4,340 a ton.