The market is still struggling overall, however, to absorb Brazil's record-large crop from last year. November robusta coffee settled down $1, or 0.1%, at $1,327 per tonne. Coffee prices in Vietnam were unchanged this week amid few trades and dwindling end-of-season stockpiles, while Indonesian prices fell as more supply came on stream despite the harvest-end looming.
Top growers Brazil and Vietnam already dominate the global coffee market, and that domination is set to deepen thanks to their embrace of mechanization and other new technologies that are dramatically boosting productivity growth. October raw sugar settled up 0.19 cent, or 1.7%, at 11.58 cents per lb, after climbing to a nearly one-week high of 11.64.
The market was underpinned by forecasts of reduced Brazilian output and expectations that buying interest from China could increase soon, dealers said. The Brazilian government on Thursday scaled back its projections for center-south sugar and cane-based ethanol production in the current crop, despite expectations for a slightly larger crush, blaming lower sugar content in the cane.
October white sugar settled up $4.20, or 1.4%, at $312.10 per tonne. December New York cocoa settled up $23, or 1%, at $2,230 per tonne, its second consecutive positive finish, and the contract's first two-day winning streak in a month. December London cocoa was unchanged from the previous session, settling at 1,723 pounds a tonne.