LONDON, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Arabica coffee futures traded on the ICE exchange rose on Thursday, recovering from the three-week low hit in the prior session as the market continues to steady off this year's record highs.
COFFEE
* Arabica coffee KCc2 rose 1% to $3.7880 per lb at 1057 GMT, having touched a three-week low of $3.6630 on Wednesday.
* Arabica hit a series of record highs earlier this year and remains up nearly 20%, but the market has grown concerned about a pushback from consumers against high prices, dealers said.
* Keurig Dr Pepper KDP.O said this week net sales in its U.S. coffee segment fell 2.4% in the fourth quarter amid high coffee prices, while JDE Peet's JDEP.AS forecast a small decline in 2025 operating profit thanks to soaring coffee costs.
* Still, arabica remains underpinned overall by worries supplies from top producer Brazil will disappoint again this year. The weather in Brazil has been dry of late, dealers said, nothing that weather forecasters are warning of small cherry size and lower quality beans.
* Robusta coffee LRCc2 fell 0.2% to $5,401 a metric ton.
COCOA
* New York cocoa CCc2 fell 1.4% to $9,104 a ton, giving back some of Wednesday's 4.8% gain.
* Guan Chong Bhd, Asia's leading cocoa processor said it had been successful in passing on higher cocoa costs to clients, giving the market a boost on Wednesday.
* Overall though, cocoa remains down more than 15% this year, with solid West African rainfall and demand destruction pressuring prices.
* Cocoa stocks held in ICE warehouses are meanwhile at their highest since early December CC-TOTAL-TOT, while dealers expect the International Cocoa Organisation will this week forecast a balanced market in the current 2024/25 season.
* London cocoa LCCc2 fell 1.3% to 7,351 pounds per ton.
SUGAR
* Raw sugar futures SBc1 fell 0.5% to 20.54 cents per lb, giving up some ground after hitting a two-month high of 21.57 cents earlier this week.
* The International Sugar Organization $(ISO)$ has raised its forecast for an expected global sugar deficit in the 2024/25 to 4.88 million metric tons, partly driven by lower-than-expected production in India.
* Rabobank said sugar has mostly gained support of late from recent and expected dry weather in top producer Brazil, as well as from a stronger Brazilian real BRL=.
* White sugar LSUc1 was little changed at $554.80 a ton.
(Reporting by May Angel; editing by David Evans)
((may.angel@thomsonreuters.com - https://x.com/ReutersAngelM;))
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