SOFTS-London cocoa hits near one-year low, sugar edges up

LONDON, Oct 2 (Reuters) - London cocoa futures on ICE fell to a near one-year low on Thursday as the main crop harvest got underway in top grower Ivory Coast while sugar prices edged up.

COCOA

London cocoa LCCc2 fell 0.15% to 4,703 pounds a metric ton by 1015 GMT after hitting a low of 4,690 pounds, the weakest level in nearly one year.

Dealers noted the main crop harvest in top grower Ivory Coast was underway with early arrivals set to be boosted by some cocoa held over to benefit from a rise in the farmgate price.

Ivory Coast has raised the fixed farmgate price paid to cocoa farmers by over 55.6% to 2,800 CFA per kg for the 2025/26 main crop, President Alassane Ouattara said on Wednesday.

Concerns about weak demand were also helping to drive down the futures market.

New York cocoa CCc2 was down 0.2% at $6,716 a ton.

SUGAR

Raw sugar SBc1 rose 0.7% to 16.25 cents per lb.

Dealers were awaiting the release later on Thursday of data on cane and sugar production in the Centre-South of Brazil covering the first half of September.

Sugar production in the key region is likely to have risen 15% year on year to 3.6 million tons, according to a survey of analysts published by S&P Global Commodity Insights.

White sugar LSUc1 gained 1.4% to $459 a ton.

COFFEE

Robusta coffee LRCc2 was up 0.02% at $4,389 a ton.

Coffee prices in Vietnam rose this week on concerns over heavy rain from storms ahead of the harvest, traders said on Thursday, although coffee plants suffered no harm from Typhoon Bualoi that swept through the country's northern region.​

Arabica coffee KCc2 fell 1.25% to $3.6345 per lb.