Recasts, updates prices, adds details
LONDON, Feb 5 (Reuters) - Arabica coffee hit a fresh record high for a tenth consecutive session on Wednesday, zeroing in on the psychologically significant $4 per lb level, while raw sugar hit a one-month peak.
COFFEE
* Arabica coffee futures on the ICE exchange KCc1, seen as a global price benchmark, rose 4% to $3.9870 per lb at 1529 GMT, after setting a record peak of $3.9905.
* Arabica has been supported by an expected output slump in top producer Brazil in the upcoming season, but analysts also say the market has a logic of its own by this point, with buying by speculators prompting other speculators to buy.
* Speculators fear getting caught on the wrong side of the rally as they did last year in cocoa, and also worry that with coffee demand being largely inelastic, the market is on course to record a deficit this season.
* There are also concerns amongst market participants more broadly that U.S. President Donald Trump might place trade tariffs on South American countries that are key coffee producers.
* Robusta coffee
SUGAR
* Raw sugar futures on the ICE exchange SBc1 dipped 0.1% at 19.65 cents per lb at 1536 GMT, having earlier hit their highest since Jan. 6 at 19.78 cents.
* Dealers said exporters in top producer Brazil are in no rush to sell as the Brazilian real BRL is strengthening, reducing their returns in local currency terms.
* They added speculators are rushing to reverse their bets on price falls, and that below-average rains in top producer Brazil in January plus dry weather in Thailand, India, China and Mexico are adding fuel to the fire.
* Looking ahead however, the global sugar balance is expected to shift to a small surplus in the 2025/26 season with production set to rise, analyst Green Pool said in its initial forecast for the crop year.
* White sugar LSUc1 slipped 0.1% to $526.10 a metric ton, having earlier hit a 1-1/2 month high of $531.20.
COCOA
* New York cocoa futures CCc1 fell 3.3% to $10,512 a ton.
* Cadbury parent Mondelez MDLZ.O forecast a bigger-than-estimated drop in its annual profit on Tuesday, signalling pressures from higher costs, including from surging cocoa prices.
* The company's fourth-quarter sales volumes fell in Europe, indicating high prices are starting to eat into cocoa demand.
* London cocoa LCCc2 fell 3.9% to 8,246 pounds per ton.
(Reporting by Maytaal Angel; Editing by Jan Harvey and Mohammed Safi Shamsi)
((maytaal.angel@thomsonreuters.com - https://x.com/ReutersAngelM; 00442075429105 ;))
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