"Today, we project not more than 35 million bags." The downward revision in forecasts for Brazil's 2000/01 crop will provide a support to the New York coffee market, he said. "I think the market will go between 90 and 110 cents (a lb) from now to the next harvest," Ottoni said. "

This is a good price for Brazil...100 cents per pound, it's a very good price. We can continue to increase output," he said. On New York's Coffee, Sugar and Cocoa Exchange (CSCE), active December settled up 1.05 cents at 96.70 cents a lb on Thursday. Arabica prices on CSCE have been volatile over the past two weeks on weather reports for Brazil's coffee belt. The December contract went from a high of 120 cents on October 13 to a low of 87.75 cents just over a week later on October 22. Brazil is the world's largest coffee producer and the top coffee supplier to Japan. Last year Brazil had a 24 percent share of Japan's total green coffee imports of 332,386 tonnes.

Ottoni said Brazil's coffee exports to Japan are expected to reach 1.4 million bags in 1999, and the country aims to boost exports further to over 1.5 million bags in 2000. Ottoni Filhos has about an eight percent share of Brazil's total coffee exports to Japan, he said. "Brazil will continue to be the top supplier, as it is the biggest producer in the world. And because we offer top quality of coffee beans," Ottoni said. Brazil also sees other Asian markets such as South Korea, Taiwan and China as major export destinations in the future. Ottoni said Chinese consumption of coffee, most of which is soluble coffee, is now about 600,000 bags a year, or just 10 percent of the Japanese market of six million bags. "China has a big potential, but not in the near future. We will have a big consumer (in China) in 10 to 20 years," he said.

Meanwhile, coffee will head higher, but be met by resistance, while cocoa could see limited residual buying and sugar's late rally last week should spark further purchases today, technical analysts said.

COFFEE: Traders called coffee to open $18 down on numbers but likely to kick off $5-$8 lower. Analysts at Sucden's research desk said Thursday had seen coffee edge through resistance at the 40-day moving average at $1,250 and close above this level. "We might see more buying inspired by this but the market is pretty rangebound and so the upside is likely to be limited to around $1,285," Sucden said. January robustas finished $20 higher at $1,250 a tonne having traded between $1,260 and $1,238 as trade bought and players attempted to square positions ahead of November's first notice day next Monday. US December arabica moved up after speculative buying on Thursday but ended well under the day's peak, to settle 1.05 cents firmer at 96.70 cents a pound, trading between 99.50 and 95.80 cents. "Origin selling is very limited, they're really out of the market today.

It's mostly short-covering. The funds were good buyers at the opening," one Miami-based broker said. Colombia's National Coffee Growers' Federation said Thursday it expected a lower coffee crop in the first three months of the 1999/2000 cycle. Federation chief Jorge Cardenas said he expected a crop of some 3.3 million 60-kg bags in October-December, compared to 4.2 million last year.

COCOA: Cocoa was called to open unchanged. "The market managed to close toward the high of the session which suggests a little residual buying initially but we are not overly optimistic unitl we see a firm close above the 596 trendline," Sucden said. LIFFE cocoa ended higher, having done an about-turn from morning session lows as earlier origin selling slowed. Front month December last traded 2 pounds up at 581 pounds a tonne. New York cocoa futures saw active December rise $3 to $870, having traded between $875-$858 after a quiet, range-bound session, traders said.

SUGAR: Sucden said whites' respectable close near the hights could induce further buying on Friday and see a test of $184.60. Whites rallied towards Thursday's close after to see December move $3.80 higher to $182.70 a tonne, the intra-day peak, settling at $181.90. Until early afternoon, the bulk of business had consisted of against actuals and switch trades. US sugar futures finished with small gains Thursday, largely as a result of shortcovering by small speculators in a thinly traded session. March sugar went up 0.10 to end at 7.01 cents a lb, moving in a 16-point range from 7.03-6.87 cents. Wednesday, it traded in a 15-point range from 7.01-6.86 cents.