Sugar price sinks to 2010 low; cocoa, coffee hit by profit taking

March white sugar on Liffe closed down $6.6 or 1.34 percent at $483.2 per tonne, the lowest level for the front month since June 2010.

COFFEE, COCOA DOWN

Business was brisk with volumes in cocoa and coffee double their 30-day average after markets reopened following the long holiday weekend in the United States.

Arabica coffee futures fell from two-and-a-half month highs close to the $1.58 per lb it hit on Friday.

"There's a bit of profit-taking, a snowball effect as we start the week," said Hector Galvan, senior market strategist for RJO Futures in Chicago.

"The news isn't there as it was last week to keep investors on their toes, buying consistently," Galvan said.

He was referring to fears about crops in Central America, producer of a fifth of the world's arabica, where a tree-killing fungus known as roya is reducing yields.

March arabica futures traded down 7.7 cents or 4.93 percent to settle at $1.486 per lb. That was the front month's biggest one-day fall since Nov. 20.

Top producers Brazil and Vietnam still have a lot of coffee to sell, a broker in London said.

Dealers noted the potential for further short-covering gains as farmers in Central America struggle to control the fungus, which is spread by the wind.

March robusta coffee futures closed down $32 or 1.62 percent at $1,938 a tonne with the market digesting gains after peaking at $1,989 on Friday, the highest level for the second position since Nov. 2.

Cocoa futures on ICE fell their most in three

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