SOFTS-Sugar trades above three-week low, coffee steady

LONDON Feb 2 (Reuters) - Raw sugar futures on ICE traded above a three-week low in early business on Thursday, while coffee and cocoa were steady, supported by firm financial markets after solid global manufacturing data.

SUGAR

* March raw sugar futures on ICE stood 0.07 cent or 0.3 percent higher at 23.66 cents a lb at 0932 GMT. March futures touched a three-week low of 23.43 cents on Wednesday. Sugar markets are pressured by expectations for a large global surplus, dealers say.

* Heavy summer rains across eastern Australia prompted authorities to issue flood warnings for vast areas of Queensland and New South Wales states on Thursday, including coal mining areas in the Hunter Valley.

* Sugar production in Brazil's center-south region slowed to a trickle during the first half of January, data from cane industry association Unica showed on Wednesday, as a disappointing harvest draws to a close.

* Brazilian soybean, coffee, raw sugar and iron ore exports fell in January from December, the Trade Ministry said on Wednesday in its monthly commodities export report.

* London March white sugar futures were up $1.0 or 0.2 percent to $630.7 per tonne.

COFFEE

* ICE March arabicas were down 0.45 cent or 0.2 percent at $2.1365 per lb.

* March robusta coffee on Liffe fell $11 or 0.6 percent to $1,808 a tonne.

* Vietnam exported an estimated 130,000 tonnes, or 2.17 million bags, of coffee in January, a drop of 39.5 percent from the same month last year, the government said on Thursday.

* Robusta coffee bean exports for January from Indonesia's main growing area in Sumatra slumped 64 percent to 6,306.41 tonnes from a year earlier, government trade data showed on Thursday.

COCOA

* March cocoa on ICE rose $2 or 0.1 percent to $2,227 a tonne.

* Cocoa bean exports from Indonesia's Lampung province on Sumatra island rose 52 percent in January from a year ago, government trade office data showed on Thursday.

* Hershey Co raised its 2012 earnings and sales growth targets on Wednesday, citing cost savings, productivity measures and expected increases in sales volume.

* Liffe May cocoa futures traded up 4 pounds or 0.3 percent at 1,464 pounds a tonne.

OTHER MARKETS

* European shares hit a six-week high on Thursday adding to solid gains after global manufacturing data eased fears about the growth outlook, but with Greek debt talks unresolved, gains were limited.

* Greece has completed the bulk of talks with foreign lenders on a new bailout but has yet to reach agreement on issues such as wages, pensions and the recapitalisation of banks, a spokesman for the Greek government said on Thursday. (Reporting by David Brough; editing by Keiron Henderson)