Sugar Price Rises Most in Four Weeks; Cocoa, Coffee Gain

Sugar futures gained the most in two weeks on speculation that adverse weather in Brazil, the world’s top exporter, and India may limit global supplies. Cocoa and coffee also advanced.

Sugar-cane output in India, the second-biggest grower, will drop 6.2 percent in the year starting Oct. 1 as dry weather cuts yields, Farm Minister Sharad Pawar said yesterday. Growing regions in Brazil will get rain this week that may delay fieldwork, Sao Paulo-based Somar Meteorologia said.

The market “is moving higher on continued skepticism of the Indian crop prospects” and “more rain in Brazil that could once again delay the harvest,” Christopher Narayanan, the head of agricultural commodity research in New York at Societe Generale SA, said in an e-mail.

Raw sugar for March delivery climbed 2.2 percent to settle at 20.72 cents a pound at 2 p.m. on ICE Futures U.S. in New York. That marked the biggest gain for a most-active contract since Sept. 7. The commodity has dropped 11 percent this year.

Cocoa futures for December delivery rose 1.5 percent to $2,483 a metric ton in New York, the biggest increase since Sept. 5. The price has gained 18 percent in 2012.

Arabica-coffee futures for December delivery climbed 0.8 percent to $1.7365 a pound. The price has slumped 23 percent this year.

To contact the reporter on this story: Marvin G. Perez in New York at mperez71@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Steve Stroth at sstroth@bloomberg.net