NY sugar and coffee end at lowest since June, cocoa drops

Aug 16 (Reuters) - Raw sugar futures trading on ICE closed
at a two-month low on Thursday, falling for the 13th straight
session, while arabica coffee finished at an eight-week trough,
with both markets facing plentiful supplies.
U.S. cocoa futures also eased.

1:59 PM SETTLE NET PCT LOW HIGH CURRENT
CHNG CHNG VOL
Sugar OCT 20.15 -0.12 -0.6% 20.14 20.45 34,447
Sugar MAR 20.93 -0.05 -0.2% 20.91 21.09 25,698
Cocoa SEP 2424 7 0.3% 2,402 2,450 8,524
Cocoa DEC 2400 -31 -1.3% 2,393 2,447 18,540
Coffee SEP 158.85 -3.3 -2.0% 157.80 161.80 5,022
Coffee DEC 161.8 -3.65 -2.2% 160.80 164.80 11,014

TOTAL MARKET VOLUME
CURRENT 30D AVG 250D AVG
ICE SUGAR 87,676 94,984 96,366
ICE COCOA 32,200 24,879 21,752
ICE COFFEE 19,514 24,744 22,129

RAW SUGAR
* Benchmark October raw sugar futures dropped 0.14
cent, or 0.7 percent, to settle at 20.15 cents per lb, the
lowest level for the spot contract since June 14.
* The market closed lower for the 13th straight session.
* Improved crop weather in top growers Brazil and India, and
reselling by traders in the world's second biggest sugar
consumer China, continued to pressure the market as these
factors indicate there will be abundant global supplies -
traders.
* The spot contract remained in technically oversold levels
on the 14-day relative strength index chart, falling to around
28.
* The October/March spread widened to close at a 0.78 cent
discount, the biggest since September 2009, from 0.69 cent,
indicating plentiful near-term supplies - traders.

ARABICA COFFEE
* December arabica futures eased 3.15 cents, or 1.9
percent, to settle at $1.6180 a lb, its lowest since June 22.
* Coffee futures fell for the eighth straight session as
dealers eyed plentiful supplies in the pipeline as top grower
Brazil finished up its harvest - traders.
* Chart-based selling also weighed on the market, as it
extended its losses well below the 61.8 percent Fibonacci
retracement, though dealers expected the market is due for a
bounce - traders.
* U.S. green coffee stocks jumped by more than 400,000 bags
to nearly 5.188 million bags at the end of July, Green Coffee
Association data showed after the market closed on Wednesday,
which traders said weighed on the market.
* ICE certified arabica stocks are also surging with more
than 1.84 million bags by Aug. 15, the highest since September
2010, with a hefty 115,905 bags pending grading.

COCOA
* Benchmark December cocoa futures settled down $36,
or 1.5 percent, at $2,400 a tonne.
* Some late September/December spreading helped boost volume
and provided some pressure ahead of the September contract's
first notice day Monday - traders.
* Cocoa futures eased on pressure from lower Liffe cocoa
prices as well as follow-through weakness - traders.
* The cocoa market ignored increasing violence in top grower
Ivory Coast, where local residents and the country's defense
minister said gunmen attacked army and gendarme posts and freed
prisoners in a town west of Abidjan.

For related news and prices, click on the codes in brackets:
Sugar futures/spreads Sugar cash prices
Coffee futures/spreads Coffee cash prices
Cocoa futures/spreads Cocoa cash prices

RELATED NEWS AND OTHER TOPICS
All sugar news All coffee news
All cocoa news All softs news
All commodities news Softs diary
Weather news Foreign exchange rates
SPEED GUIDES

(Reporting by Marcy Nicholson)