Raw sugar falls after record delivery, cocoa turns lower

By Marcy Nicholson and David Brough

NEW YORK/LONDON (Reuters) - Raw sugar futures on ICE fell 2 percent on Friday, pressured by a record delivery and the firm U.S. dollar, while New York cocoa fell sharply from an eight-week high on pressure from the weak pound, creating a technical formation that attracted selling.

Coffee futures also fell. The softs complex dropped along with the 19-commodity Thomson Reuters/CoreCommodity CRB Index <.TRJCRB>, which saw its biggest one-day drop in more than three weeks.

In sugar, ICE Futures U.S. confirmed on Friday that 1.9 million tonnes of raw sugar was to be delivered against the May contract, with traders identifying Wilmar International Ltd as the sole buyer of the record amount.

"The potential significance, apart from the size, is that Wilmar could probably be regarded as strong a receiver as any company - and stronger than most," said Michael Liddiard, consultant with Agrilion.

He said the company had access to substantial refining capacity around the world, notably in Asia.

July raw sugar settled down 0.27 cent, or 2 percent, at 12.91 cents a lb, finishing the week down 2.4 percent on the spot-month basis, the biggest drop in five weeks.

Traders noted technical weakness and investor selling also weighed on prices.

August white sugar closed down $3.30, or 0.9 percent, at $373.40 a tonne.

July New York cocoa ended down $66, or 2.2 percent, to $2,877 per tonne, trading in a wide $110 range and falling below the 200-day moving average at $2,950 after rising to $2,967, the highest since March 9.

On a continuation chart, the second position closed higher for the fifth straight week.

"Cocoa's currency related," said Nick Gentile, managing partner of commodity trading advisor NickJen Capital in New York, in reference to the sharply lower British pound .

"There's no sense of urgency by the industry. They're very well covered."

July London cocoa ended down 18 pounds, or 0.9 percent, at 1,987 pounds a tonne after hitting the highest since March 10 at 2,020 pounds.

Arabica coffee futures fell for the second straight day on the firm dollar and lack of roaster buying, traders said.

July arabica settled down 3.25 cents, or 2.4 percent, at $1.342 per lb, and closed the week down 5.6 percent, its weakest since in seven weeks.

July robusta coffee futures on ICE closed down $20, or 1.1 percent, at $1,772 a tonne.

(Additional reporting by Nigel Hunt; Editing by Gareth Jones and Chizu Nomiyama)