Sugar hovers near lows, coffee extends rise on poor Brazilian outlook 

PARIS, Jan 22 (Reuters) – White sugar futures rose on Wednesday but remained close to a three-year low hit in the previous session, pressured by news of India’s return to the export trade market, while robusta coffee extended its rise on a lower production outlook in Brazil.

* White sugar was 1.6% higher at $473.9 a metric ton by 1219 GMT. It reached its lowest since August 2021 on Tuesday at $462.6.

* Raw sugar rose 1.12% to 17.99 cents per lb, after a five-month low of 17.57 cents in the previous session.

* 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.

* In Brazil, agricultural yields on sugarcane farms went down 10.8% in 2024, according to research company Centro de Tecnologia Canavieira (CTC), to an average of 78 metric tons per hectare (31 tons per acre).

* New York cocoa futures were down 0.8% at $11,462 a metric ton.

* Around 100,000 fewer metric tons of cocoa are expected to arrive at Ivory Coast ports between February and March versus last season, a pod counter and a director at an exporting firm told Reuters, as the sector frets about poor rains and high temperatures.

* Ghana 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.

* Chocolate maker and cocoa processor Barry Callebaut BARN.S reported a lower sales volume than expected for its first quarter on Wednesday, hit by delayed orders as its clients renegotiate product prices with retailers amid record high cocoa costs.

* London cocoa was down 0.9% at 9,153 pounds per ton.

* Arabica coffee was up 1% at $3.3115 per lb, after reaching a one-month peak at $3.3625 on Tuesday.

* Robusta coffee rose 1.54% to $5,346 a ton, a price not seen since Dec. 10.

* Doubts over supply from top producer Brazil were underpinning prices.

* 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 Sybille de La Hamaide; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)