Raw sugar futures on ICE hit their highest in nearly six years on Thursday as flows from no. 2 exporter India, much needed at this time of the year, dwindle.

SUGAR

* March raw sugar was up 1.2% at 20.53 cents per lb, having earlier hit its highest since Feb 2017 at 20.73.

* Dealers said mills in India are producing almost no raw sugar at the moment because whites are currently more lucrative, leaving the market short at a time when top exporter Brazil is in between harvests.

* They added that Indian refiners who normally buy raws locally are actually importing them from the world market, namely from Brazil.

* March white sugar rose 0.9% to $559.70 a tonne.

COFFEE

* March arabica coffee rose 1.9% to $1.7125 per lb, having gained 0.1% on Wednesday.

* CTA analyst Ryan Delaney said coffee has garnered support from the massive hailstorm that hit top producer Brazil this week, which he estimates damaged the developing crop by 0.1-2.7 million bags.

* March robusta coffee rose 0.2% to $1,882 a tonne.

* Coffee markets in top robusta producer Vietnam were subdued this week, with buyers lacking interest and bulk supplies not reaching traders as beans were still in the drying process.

* Dealers said buying should pick up ahead of the Tet New Year holidays on Jan. 22.

COCOA

* March London cocoa rose 0.6% to 1,897 pounds per tonne, having settled down 0.1% on Wednesday.

* Ghana’s annual consumer inflation accelerated to a 21-year high of 50.3% in November, a day after the world’s no. 2 cocoa producer secured a staff-level agreement with the International Monetary Fund for a $3 billion, three-year support package.

* March New York cocoa rose 0.1% to $2,535 a tonne.