Raw sugar extends rise on India, Brazil; cocoa falls

(Updates with comments and closing prices)

NEW YORK, March 13 (Reuters) –

Raw sugar futures rose on Thursday, extending recent gains, buoyed by dry weather in Brazil and a deterioration in the production outlook in India.

* Raw sugar futures ​settled up 0.39 cents, or 2.1%, at 19.25 cents per lb with the market rising by around 6% in the last week.

* “Bullish price development reflected continued concerns about rainfall volumes in Brazil and a deterioration in sugar production expectations in India,” Rabobank said in a note.

* India is likely to produce 26.4 million metric tons of sugar during the current season to September, the Indian Sugar Mills Association said on Thursday, 2.94% down from its previous estimate of 27.2 million tons.

* Dealers said there was growing sentiment that India’s one million ton export quota would not be fully met.

* Indian mills have contracts to export 600,000 tons of sugar in the 2024/25 marketing year ending in September, but are reluctant to sign further deals as local prices have increased.

* White sugar rose 1% to $538.70 a metric ton.

* London cocoa ​settled down 148 pounds, or 2.3%, to 6,341 pounds per ton.

* Dealers said there appeared to be appetite to take delivery against the March contract, which expires on Friday, and it was indicated at a premium of about 108 pounds to May

compared with a discount of around 78 pounds at the close on Wednesday.
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* The open interest on the March contract stood at 2,821 lots, equating to 28,210 tons of cocoa.

* New York cocoa fell 2.2% to $8,172 a ton.

* Dealers noted the New York March contract was also due to expire on Friday with around 10,000 tons changing hands so far during the delivery period.

* Robusta coffee settled up $20, or 0.4%, at $5,528 a ton.

* Dealers said the robusta market was underpinned by the slow current pace of farmer sales in top producer Vietnam.

* “Farmers may still have 30% to 40% of their stocks left. They are hoping for higher prices,” one trader based in Vietnam’s coffee belt said.

* Arabica coffee fell 0.3% at $3.857 per lb.

* Brazil coffee exports fell 12% in February, said exporters group

, with low beans availability.

(Reporting by Nigel Hunt and Marcelo Teixeira; Editing by Devika Syamnath, Barbara Lewis and Mohammed Safi Shamsi)