Raw sugar falls to 5-month lows, cocoa rises

(Adds comments, updates prices to settlement)

NEW YORK, Jan 21 (Reuters) –

Raw sugar futures fell to a five-month low on ICE on Tuesday as news of India’s return to the export trade hung over the market, while cocoa futures posted strong gains.

* Raw sugar, which did not trade on Monday due to a U.S. holiday, ​settled down 0.43 cent, or 2.4%, at 17.79 cents per lb after a five-month low of 17.57 cents earlier in the session.

* White sugar fell 1.7% to $466.40 a metric ton. It earlier reached its lowest since August 2021 at $462.60.

* India, the world’s second-largest sugar producer, on Monday said it will allow 1 million metric tons of exports in the current season that runs to end-September, surprising some traders.

* The planned Indian exports along with a smaller decline in Brazilian production than feared have improved supply prospects, Commerzbank said, adding that India’s export allowance was moderate and further downside to prices may be limited.

* New York cocoa futures settled up $386, or 3.5%, to $11,559 a ton.

* Concerns over tight supply were helping to keep prices near last year’s peaks, analysts said.

has delayed the delivery of 370,000 metric tons of cocoa in the 2023/24 season due to poor output, its food and agribusiness minister-designate said on Monday, up from the 350,000 tons previously reported by Reuters.

* Ghana’s government named a new head for the country’s cocoa regulator

* Weather was being closely watched in West Africa for the impact of a slightly earlier Harmattan wind this season, Rabobank analyst Oran van Dort said.

* “There is significant (and rightfully so) concern in the market right now that this will be adverse for the midcrop.”

* London cocoa rose 2.6% to 9,240 pounds per ton.

* Arabica coffee settled down 0.55 cents, or 0.2%, at $3.278 per lb​​, after reaching a one-month peak at $3.3625.

* Robusta coffee rose 2.3% at $5,263 a ton, after hitting its highest in over a month at $5,335.

* Brazilian agricultural statistics agency Conab reduced its projection for the country’s 2024 coffee crop on Tuesday by 0.57 million bags to 54.21 million, mostly due to smaller-than-expected production of robusta beans.

(Reporting by Gus Trompiz and Marcelo Teixeira; Editing by Vijay Kishore, Shailesh Kuber and Mohammed Safi Shamsi)