London cocoa slips from early peak, raw sugar weakens

London cocoa futures rose to the highest level in almost three weeks on Tuesday before gains were eroded as a short-covering rally ran out of steam.
Prices had risen early to reflect gains in New York cocoa on Monday, when London-based contracts had been shut for a British public holiday.
COCOA
* December London cocoa was up 12 pounds, or 0.8 percent, at 1,540 pounds a tonne by 1320 GMT after peaking at 1,574 pounds in early trade, the highest for the second position since Aug. 10.
* "London seems to be playing catch-up after New York gains (on Monday), which seem to have been sponsored by an increase in the U.S. spec (short) position," one dealer said.
* The speculative net short position in New York and London cocoa rose substantially in the week to Aug. 22, according to U.S. government and exchange data.
* Dealers said the scope for further gains may be limited with no clear justification on fundamentals for a significant rise in prices.
* Abundant rain mixed with sunny spells last week in most of Ivory Coast's main cocoa-growing regions boosted prospects for the upcoming main crop in the world's top producer, farmers said on Monday.
* December New York cocoa fell $41, or 2.1 percent, to $1,956 a tonne.
SUGAR
* October raw sugar was down 0.12 cent, or 0.8 percent, at 14.19 cents per lb. The front month had peaked at 14.35 cents on Monday, its highest since Aug. 4.
* Dealers said the recent run-up in prices had been fuelled by fund short-covering while producer selling had helped to stall the advance.
* "Producers have been waiting for this short-covering and are already taking advantage of it on a scale-up basis," said Sucden Financial senior trader Nick Penney in a market note.
* October white sugar rose $2.80, or 0.7 percent, to $387.50 a tonne, reflecting gains in raws on Monday when London-based markets were shut.
COFFEE
* November robusta coffee fell $5, or 0.2 percent, to $2,107 per tonne as the market consolidated after a sharp rise in prices late last week.
* Dealers said the market was underpinned by a fall in exports from top robusta producer Vietnam.
* Coffee exports from Vietnam will drop an estimated 19.4 percent in the first eight months from the same period last year, the General Statistics Office said on Tuesday.
* "Lower coffee supplies from Vietnam and Brazil have been supportive to coffee prices," ING said in a market note.
* December arabica coffee fell 1.35 cents, or 1.0 percent, to $1.30 per lb.