Cocoa rises on tightening supply; raw sugar falls

(Adds comments and closing prices)

NEW YORK, Jan 6 (Reuters) –

Cocoa futures were boosted on Monday by concerns that dry weather in West Africa could exacerbate tight supplies, while raw sugar fell amid rains in top producer Brazil.

* New York cocoa futures on ICE ​settled up $139, or 1.2%, to $11,377 a metric ton, climbing back towards the record high of $12,931 set on Dec. 18.

* Dealers said dry weather in West Africa was expected to slow port arrivals in top grower Ivory Coast from next month.

* “Concerns about production in West Africa have compounded technical factors, including low liquidity to place upward pressure on prices,” BMI analysts said in a note.

* Cocoa arrivals at ports in top grower Ivory Coast since the start of the season on Oct. 1 reached 1.109 million tons by Jan. 5, up from 873,000 tons over the same period last season, exporters estimated on Monday.

* London cocoa rose 0.1% to 9,030 pounds per ton.

* Robusta coffee settled up $16, or 0.3%, at $4,984 a ton, boosted by tight supplies after a slowdown in shipments from top robusta producer Vietnam.

* Vietnam exported 1.34 million metric tons of coffee in 2024, down 17.2% from the previous year, government data showed on Monday.

* Dealers said rains in Vietnam had also slowed the 2024/25 harvest and raised quality concerns.

* Arabica coffee futures on ICE were little changed at $3.186 per lb.

* Arabica certified stocks at ICE rose to 993,562 bags, the highest since June 2022, as high prices boost deliveries to the exchange.

* Raw sugar ​​settled down 0.32 cent, or 1.6%, at 19.33 cents per lb.

* Dealers said rains in Brazil had improved the outlook for the 2025/26 cane crop, while the strong pace of cane crushing in Thailand was also limiting gains.

* Brazil sugarcane areas are expected to receive more beneficial rains in the next 10 days.

* March white sugar lost 1.4% to $507.10 a ton. (Reporting by Nigel Hunt and Marcelo Teixeira Editing by David Goodman, Barbara Lewis and Mohammed Safi Shamsi)