Cocoa prices hit 1-1/2-year lows, sugar also down

Cocoa futures on ICE slumped to more than 1-1/2-year lows on Monday, extending recent prolonged declines, with weak demand set to help fuel a global surplus in the 2025/26 season.

COCOA

* London cocoa C2! ​fell 2.3% to 4,061 pounds per metric ton by 1126 GMT after setting a more than 1-1/2-year low of 4,029 pounds.

* Dealers said weak demand remained a significant concern with third quarter grind data expected to show year-on-year declines in Europe, North America and Asia.

* Grind data for Europe and North America is scheduled to be published on Thursday.

* Speculators increased a net short position in London cocoa by 5,060 lots to 10,771 lots, as of October 7, exchange data showed on Friday.

* No data was published for New York-based markets due to the U.S. government shutdown.

* New York cocoa CC2! lost 1.8% to $5,784 a ton after slumping to a more than 1-1/2-year low of $5,695.

SUGAR

* Raw sugar SB1! fell 2.7% to 15.66 cents per lb.

* Dealers said the prospect of a global surplus in the 2025/26 season was weighing on the market, while price charts were also looking bearish.

* "The technical structure points to sustained weakness in the near term," broker Sucden Financial said in a note.

* The market was awaiting data on sugar and cane production in the key Centre-South region of Brazil for the second half of September, which should be published during the next few days.

* Sugar production in the region is expected to total 3.05 million metric tons in the second half of September, marking a 7.7% year-over-year increase, according to an S&P Global Commodity Insights survey of analysts.

* White sugar SF1! lost 1.9% to $441.90 a ton.

COFFEE

* Arabica coffee KC2! gained 2.6% to $3.6575 per lb, regaining some ground after falling by 4.7% last week.

* Robusta coffee RC2! rose 2% to $4,479 a ton.