SOFTS-London cocoa hits 2-1/2 month low, sugar slides​

NEW YORK, Oct 1 (Reuters) - London cocoa futures fell to a 2-1/2 month low on Wednesday as the 2025/26 main crop season got underway in top grower Ivory Coast, while raw sugar prices fell sharply following a large delivery against the October contract that expired this week.

COCOA

London cocoa LCCc2 ​​settled down 36 pounds, or 0.8%, at 4,710 pounds per ton, after setting a 2-1/2 month low of 4,700 pounds.

Ivory Coast's Coffee and Cocoa Council (CCC) announced a new farmgate price for cocoa at the opening ceremony of the 2025/26 marketing campaign on Wednesday, setting it at 2,800 CFA per kg, or 55.6% higher.

The main crop harvest in Ivory Coast is likely to see strong early arrivals, partly due to cocoa being held back to benefit from an expected higher farmgate price.

Dealers said the combination of a strong early flow of cocoa out of Ivory Coast and Ghana and weak demand could put further downward pressure on prices.

New York cocoa CCc2 fell 1% to $6,729 a ton.

SUGAR

Raw sugar SBc1 ​settled down 0.47 cent, or 2.8%, at 16.13 cents per lb.

Deliveries of raw sugar on the expiry of the October contract on ICE Exchange totalled 30,032 lots, or around 1.52 million metric tons, said the exchange in a notice on Wednesday, confirming preliminary information from traders.

Most of the sugar will be loaded at the Brazilian ports of Santos and Paranagua.

Dealers said dry and warm weather in Brazil currently will speed up harvesting and sugar production.

White sugar LSUc1 lost 3.3% to $452.80 a ton.

COFFEE

Arabica coffee KCc2 settled up 9.1 cents, or 2.5%, at $3.6805 per lb as the market extended its rebound.

The market was awaiting a planned meeting this week between U.S. President Donald Trump and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, though no date has been announced.

The meeting is expected to discuss the 50% U.S. tariff on Brazilian coffee, which has curtailed trade between the two countries.

ICE-certified arabica stocks continued its descent both on Tuesday and Wednesday, now down to 563,351 bags.

Robusta coffee LRCc2 rose 4.8% to $4,388 a ton.​