May white sugar ended $4.70, or 1.3 percent, higher at $361.50 per tonne. The contract had fallen by $4.30 on Friday and remains well within this month's narrow range of $355.00 to $366.50. Dealers said bouts of fund short-covering were providing the main support for prices, although fundamentals remained bearish, with improving crop prospects in India adding to concerns about excess supplies.
"There is far too much sugar, and nothing can happen to substantially alleviate that surplus for at least 18 months, but the funds are very short," Marex said in a market update. Speculators trimmed net short positions in both white and raw sugar in the week to February 13.
May robusta coffee ended down $13, or 0.7 percent, at $1,741 a tonne after slipping to a two-week low of $1,738 in late trade. Dealers said there was follow-through selling after a weak close of Friday and the outlook on prices charts appeared to be becoming more bearish.
The pace of exports from top robusta producer Vietnam has been slowed by the country's biggest holiday, the Lunar New Year, locally known as Tet, which runs from February 14 to February 20. "Enough coffee is available, however: the current 2017/18 (Vietnam) crop, harvesting of which has been underway since October, is said to be significantly better than the last and expected to yield around 1.7 million tons (a good 28 million bags)," Commerzbank said in a market note.
May London cocoa ended 3 pounds, or 0.2 percent, lower at 1,504 pounds a tonne, retreating slightly from a 2-1/2 month high of 1,514 pounds set on Thursday and Friday. Dealers said funds were continuing to reduce a net short position with price charts seen as generally supportive after the recent strong performance.
"The indicators are on the upside and we may see a test of 1,515 (pounds a tonne). The close above the 100-day moving average also improves the outlook in the near term," said Sucden Financial technical analyst Geordie Wilkes. Hot weather and below-average rainfall in most of Ivory Coast's cocoa-growing regions last week raised concerns about the quality of the April-to-March mid-crop, farmers said on Monday.