INO.com News - DJ SOFTS HIGHLIGHTS: Top Stories Of The Day (djn)

DJ SOFTS HIGHLIGHTS: Top Stories Of The Day

LONDON (Dow Jones)--World 2009-10 sugar production is expected to fall 6 million metric tons short of demand, Germany-based analytical firm F.O. Licht said Tuesday.

Brazil's coffee production estimate for marketing year 2009/10 (July-June) remains unchanged at 43.5 million 60-kilogram bags, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture attache report posted Tuesday on the Foreign Agricultural Services Web site.

MOSCOW (Dow Jones)--Russia produced to Nov. 16 2.589 million metric tons of refined sugar from beet harvested this year, compared with 2.552 million tons on the same date last year, the sugar producers association Soyuzrossakhar reported Wednesday.

NEW DELHI (Dow Jones)--Sugar mills in India's second-biggest producing state, Uttar Pradesh, are likely to start crushing sugar cane for the first time this season in three-four days, following a six-week delay due to a farmers protest.

MUMBAI (Dow Jones)--Sugar production in Maharashtra, India's largest sugar producing state, has risen 6% so far in the marketing year started Oct. 1 over the same period a year earlier as most mills have resumed crushing after a recent shutdown due to heavy rains, a senior industry official said Wednesday.

SAO PAULO (Dow Jones)--Brazilian sugar and ethanol group Sao Martinho SA (SMTO3.BR) on Tuesday said it plans to invest in organic expansion.

ICE Futures U.S. sugar futures ended at slightly weaker levels on Tuesday on profit-taking in the wake of a stronger U.S. dollar. Overall, however, analysts remain positive on the supply/demand situation for the sugar market.

ABIDJAN (Dow Jones)--Ivory Coast's shippers and cocoa processors declared 111,403 metric tons of cocoa for export between Oct. 1--the start of the 2009-2010 season--to Nov. 11, which is up 12,382 tons, or 13%, on the 99,021 tons declared in the same period last season, official data obtained by Dow Jones Newswires showed Tuesday.

ABIDJAN (Dow Jones)--The average price paid for a kilogram of cocoa beans at Ivory Coast's farm gates in Nov. 9-15 was 965 CFA francs ($2.19), up from CFA895 in Oct. 19-25, the last official figures available, figures from the coffee and cocoa marketing agency showed Tuesday.

YAOUNDE, Cameroon (Dow Jones)--Cameroon has begun a trial of a new species of high-yielding hybrid cocoa, the head of the Cocoa Development Authority said Wednesday.

U.S. cocoa futures settled slightly lower on Tuesday as the weight of the rising U.S. dollar pressured the commodity but an oversold condition kept the losses to a minimum.

BOGOTA (Dow Jones)--Coffee exports in October, the first month of the new 2009-10 crop cycle, from Colombia, Peru, Mexico, the Dominican Republic and Central America were down 23% to 1,343,084 bags of 60-kilograms each, Guatemala's National Coffee Association, Anacafe, said Tuesday.

Peruvian coffee exports in October, the first month of the 2009-10 crop cycle, were down 8.8%, to 451,316 bags of 60 kilograms each, the exporter-run Peruvian Coffee Chamber said Tuesday.

CHINCHINA, Colombia (Dow Jones)--Colombia's current 2009-10 main coffee harvest in the key central province of Caldas is expected to fall between 15% and 20% on the year-ago output, a top industry official said Tuesday.

BOGOTA (Dow Jones)--Colombia's National Federation of Coffee Growers, or Fedecafe, on Tuesday set the daily coffee export price at $1.7616 per pound, up from $1.7203/lb on Nov. 16.

MANIZALES, Colombia (Dow Jones)--Colombian coffee growers in the key central producing province of Caldas met Tuesday to discuss the rising severity of broca, a crop pest plaguing the current harvest.

NAIROBI (Dow Jones)--Kenyan coffee prices rose slightly at the Nairobi Coffee Exchange auction due to high demand and low supplies this week, compared with the previous auction a fortnight ago, an official said Wednesday.

ICE futures U.S. Arabica coffee settled lower on Tuesday after the U.S. dollar's gain on the day pressured commodity markets lower.

-By Michael Haddon, Dow Jones Newswires; 4420-7842-9289; michael.haddon@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 18, 2009 06:46 ET (11:46 GMT)

TOP STORIES FO Licht Sees World 2009-2010 Sugar Deficit Of 6 Million Tons USDA Attache: Brazil 2009-10 Coffee Output Estimate Unchanged SUGAR Russia Produces 2.589 Mln Tons Sugar From Beet To Nov 16 India Mills In Key State To Start Cane Crushing After Delay Sugar Output In Key India State Up 6% As Of Nov 17 - Exec Brazil's Sao Martinho Eyes BRL90M Investment In Mill-CFO ICE Sugar Review: Profit-Taking, Modest Losses COCOA Ivorian 2009-2010 Cocoa Export Declarations Up 13% On Year Ivory Coast Nov 9-15 Cocoa Price XOF965/Kg -BCC Cameroon Tests New High-Yield Hybrid Cocoa Species - Official ICE Cocoa Review: Lower But Holds Ground Amid Dollar Rise COFFEE Latin America Oct '09-10 Arabica Coffee Exports -23% To 1.34M Bags Peru Oct 2009-10 Coffee Exports Down 8.8% To 451,316 Bags Colombia's Caldas 2009-10 Main Coffee Crop Seen Down 15%-20% Colombia Coffee Export Price $1.7616/Lb Tue Vs $1.7203/Lb Mon Colombia's Caldas Coffee Growers Meet As Broca Infestation Grows Kenyan Coffee Prices Slightly Up On Good Demand, Low Supplies ICE Coffee Review: Lower In Line With Firm-Dollar Pressure