Arabica coffee posts 3% weekly loss, raw sugar hits 2-week low

(Adds comments and weekly price moves)

NEW YORK, March 28 (Reuters) – Arabica coffee futures rose slightly on Friday on ICE but posted a 3% weekly loss, while raw sugar prices fell to a two-week low.

* Arabica coffee settled up 1.15 cent, or 0.3%, at $3.7995 per lb​.

* Dealers said showers in Brazil coffee areas could aid cherry growth although more rain is needed. There are also concerns that demand may be weakening as retail prices climb.

* “We expect tight stock levels in Brazil to continue bolstering coffee prices throughout 2025, while flagging that the potential impact of high prices on demand is a downside risk for prices,” analyst BMI said in a weekly update.

* Arabica certified stocks could increase in coming days as around 50,000 bags showed up at the exchange to be graded.

* Robusta coffee was little changed at $5,354 a metric ton.

* Raw sugar ​​settled down 0.13 cents, or 0.7%, at 18.96 cents per lb, after hitting a two-week low of 18.91 cents.

* The contract posted a weekly loss of 3.8%.

* Dealers noted the pace of sugar cane crushing in Center-South Brazil in the first half of March was stronger than expected, albeit lower than the same period a year ago.

* They also noted that more mills were expected to start crushing in the second half of March, helping to lessen concerns about a potential poor start to the 2025/26 season.

* Sugar cane crushing in Brazil’s center-south region in the first half of March fell 18% to 1.83 million tons from a year earlier, while sugar production was down 19%.

* White sugar fell 0.4% at $535.70 a ton.

* New York cocoa settled up $63, or 0.8%, to $8,042 a ton. It had a weekly gain of 4%.

* Dealers said the market continued to derive support from an expected drop in the size of the mid-crop in top producer Ivory Coast.

* Some analysts believe that alternatives to cocoa products could do better than similar projects such as plant-based meat.

* London cocoa rose 1.5% to 6,259 pounds per ton, having gained 3% in the week. (Reporting by Nigel Hunt and Marcelo Teixeira; editing by David Evans, Maju Samuel and Rod Nickel)