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White sugar  Sugar Declines in London as Rains in Brazil End; Coffee Gains

By Claudia Carpenter

July 10 (Bloomberg) -- Sugar fell in London after rains stopped inBrazil, the world's biggest producer, allowing farmers to speed upharvesting. Coffee rose.

The weather ``brightened up and the sugar content is picking up,''said

David Sadler

, manager of the sugar desk at Sucden (U.K.) Ltd. in London.``There is Brazilian white sugar available.''

Sugar prices weakened after climbing 20 percent in June as wetweather in Brazil crimped output. Prices rose yesterday after theInternational Sugar Organization said farmers in India and theEuropean Union will switch to other crops.

White, or refined, sugar for October delivery dropped $2.60, or 0.7percent, to $385.40 a metric ton on London's Liffe exchange. Rawsugar for October delivery in New York fell 1.7 percent to 13.62cents a pound.

Growers in Brazil and Thailand would probably accelerate sales ifraw sugar climbed to 14 cents a pound, Sadler said.

Raw sugar production in the Philippines has risen to 2.43 milliontons with milling almost completed, Sugar Regulatory AdministrationDeputy Administrator

Aida Ignacio

 said in Manila. That compares with 2.24 million tons in the yearended August 2007 and a government forecast of 2.3 million tons inJune.

``A lot of countries had good weather and good crops,'' Sadlersaid. ``The Cubans are saying their production is improving.''

Refined sugar production will probably exceed demand by 2 milliontons in the 12 months through March 2009, Lausanne,Switzerland-based researcher Kingsman SA estimates.

Coffee Drops

Robusta coffee for September delivery rose $13, or 0.6 percent, to$2,314 a ton. Prices fell for five straight sessions on increasedsales from Vietnam and Indonesia. Vietnam is the largest grower ofrobusta beans used in instant coffee and espresso.

Cocoa closed unchanged at 1,618 pounds ($3,198) a ton. Prices havedropped 8 percent this month on reduced speculation of crop damagein West Africa.

Ghana, the second-largest producer of cocoa, has brought thecapsid-bug pest ``under control'' through a campaign of sprayingtrees with insecticide, Obeng Adjinah, head of cocoa disease andpest control at the Ghana Cocoa Board, said July 8. Capsid bugsfeed on leaves.

To contact the reporter on this story:

Claudia Carpenter

 in London at

ccarpenter2@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: July 10, 2008 12:48 EDT