NY cocoa on track for biggest weekly gain since Jan

Aug 30 (Reuters) - U.S. cocoa futures rose for a fourth
straight session on Thursday, breaching the $2,600 per tonne
mark for the first time since November, as fears about a
potential supply shortage from West Africa persisted.
Arabica coffee eased on abundant supplies, while sugar was
steady, settling below an intraday high above 20 cents per lb
after an earlier flurry of bargain hunting petered out.

3:00 PM SETTLE NET PCT LOW HIGH CURRENT
CHNG CHNG VOL
Sugar OCT 19.75 0.05 0.3% 19.67 20.10 41,848
Sugar MAR 20.44 0.12 0.6% 20.30 20.74 27,053
Cocoa SEP 2,642 52 2.0% 2,610 2,671 45
Cocoa DEC 2,601 39 1.5% 2,566 2,620 14,175
Coffee SEP 163 -3.9 -2.3% 162.50 167.50 28
Coffee DEC 163.4 -2.95 -1.8% 162.50 168.35 12,489

TOTAL MARKET VOLUME
CURRENT 30D AVG 250D AVG
ICE SUGAR 92,288 113,650 88,516
ICE COCOA 21,319 23,774 19,013
ICE COFFEE 18,812 24,502 19,769

RAW SUGAR
* ICE October futures settled at 19.75 cents per lb,
down just 0.01 cent from Wednesday.
* Early buying triggered by bargain hunting pushed prices to
an intraday high of 20.10 cents, but interest dissipated above
20 cents.
* In a further bullish sign, a rise in open interest
suggests new positions were put on when prices rallied 3 percent
on Tuesday.
* The lineup of ships waiting to load sugar in Brazil fell
to 58 from 71 a week earlier as transport ran smoothly under
sunny skies during the peak of the cane harvest, Williams
shipping agents said on Thursday.
* Thai raw sugar premiums edged up in Asia this week on
renewed buying interest after almost two weeks of sluggish
sales, while Indian exporters started talks to cancel deals
after a surge in local prices, dealers said.
* Indian sugar exporters are in talks to cancel sales of
more than 500,000 tonnes of white sugar after domestic prices
surged and buyers found cheaper supplies from competitors Brazil
and Thailand, four trading sources told Reuters.
* India's monsoon rains were 6 percent above average in the
past week, the weather office said on Thursday, the first time
they have been heavier than normal in the current rainy season
that began in June, in what is turning out to be a drought year.

* Indian sugar futures rose over 1 percent on Thursday to
their highest level in over three weeks on improvement in spot
demand and concerns that the drought can trim the country's
output much sharply than anticipated.
* October sugar is biased to revisit its Wednesday
high of 20.39 cents as a rebound from the Tuesday low of 19.45
cents is far from complete.

ARABICA COFFEE
* Benchmark December arabica futures on ICE eased
0.03 cent or 1.95 percent to $1.634 per lb.
* Trading volume improved from Wednesday with almost 19,000
lots changing hands, in line with the 250-day average.
* Signs of weakening demand persist, with exchange stocks
rising to 1.96 million bags from 1.94 million bags on Wednesday.
* Coffee output in Vietnam's 2012/2013 season could drop by
up to a fifth in the top growing province of Daklak, though the
harvest could start earlier than expected meaning robusta beans
could be available for export from late October, farmers
said.
* A bullish target at $1.7305 per lb remains intact for
December coffee, based on a double-bottom.

COCOA
* ICE December cocoa futures hit a nine-month high of
$2,620 per tonne before retracing some of those gains to settle
at $2,601 per tonne, up 1.05 percent. It was the fourth straight
day of gains.
* Prices have rallied 9 percent this week and were on track
for their biggest one-week rise since January on concerns that a
lack of sunshine and cooler temperatures will hurt the main crop
from West Africa.
* Some of the buying was inspired by hopes Federal Reserve
Chairman Ben Bernanke will announce fresh measures to boost the
world's largest economy in a much-anticipated speech on Friday.
* The Asian cocoa butter ratio, a key indicator of demand,
has risen to a level last seen in May 2011 as chocolate-makers
stock up, with worries about tight supply gripping markets in
Europe, dealers said on Thursday.
* The backwardation, in place for the past two weeks, was
steady at $41, reflecting a perception of nearby tightness.
* The thinly traded September contract rose 0.90
percent to $2,642 percent, also hitting fresh nine-month highs.

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

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(Reporting by Josephine Mason)