Sugar Extends Decline on Thailand Crop; Coffee, Cocoa Advance

Sugar capped the longest slump in almost a year on signs that output will surge in Thailand, the world’s second-biggest exporter. Coffee and cocoa advanced.

Thailand’s Office of the Cane & Sugar Board said this week that production will reach a record after rain boosted yields and the rally in the second half of 2010 spurred farmers to plant more. Today, the price touched a seven-month low. Brazil is the leading shipper.

“Prices are under pressure as the supply situation is easing,” said Bruno Zaneti, a risk-management consultant at FCStone Group in Campinas, Brazil.

Raw sugar for July delivery declined 0.26 cent, or 1.2 percent, to settle at 22.25 cents a pound on ICE Futures U.S. in New York, the fifth straight decline and the longest slide since May. Earlier, the price touched 21.75 cents, the lowest since Sept. 13.

This month, the commodity retreated 18 percent, a third straight drop and the biggest since March 2010. In 2011, the price has slumped 31 percent, the worst performer among 19 raw materials in the Thomson Reuters/Jefferies CRB Index.

Arabica-coffee futures for July for delivery rose 0.65 cent, or 0.2 percent, to $2.9985 a pound. The commodity gained 14 percent this month.

Cocoa futures for July delivery rose $60, or 1.8 percent, to $3,340 a metric ton. The price climbed 13 percent this month,

The NYSE Liffe exchange in London is closed for a holiday.

(Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-29/sugar-extends-decline-on-thailand-crop-coffee-cocoa-advance.html)