SOFTS-Coffee prices slide, focus remains on Brazil cold snap

LONDON, July 30 (Reuters) - Arabica coffee futures on ICE were sharply lower on Friday as the market sought to assess whether overnight frosts in parts of south Brazil had done any significant damage to crops, while sugar prices also fell.

COFFEE

* September arabica coffee KCc1 fell by 8 cents, or 4%, to $1.8850 per lb by 1212 GMT.

* Dealers were keenly awaiting indications on the extent to which overnight cold weather may have posed a threat to coffee crops in Brazil, but any damage is not expected to be as significant as that inflicted by last week's frosts.

* "The uncertainty over the extent of damage has kept coffee and sugar prices volatile," ING said in a note.

* Temperatures dropped across Brazil on Thursday - with rare snowfall overnight in some places - as a polar air mass advanced toward the center-south of the country, threatening coffee and sugarcane crops with frost.

* The front month had risen to a peak of $2.1520 on Monday, the highest level in nearly seven years, as last week's strong frosts in Brazil dented the outlook for next year's crop in the world's top producer.

* September robusta coffee LRCc1 fell by $53, or 2.8%, to $1,832 a tonne.

SUGAR

* October raw sugar SBc1 fell by 0.14 cent, or 0.8%, to 18.16 cents per lb.

* Dealers were also waiting to see whether overnight temperatures in Brazil were cold enough to cause significant damage to sugarcane crops.

* October white sugar LSUc1 fell by $3.90, or 0.9%, to $447.50 a tonne.

COCOA

* December New York cocoa CCc2 ​fell by $25, or 1%, to $2,459 a tonne​.

* Sucden Financial said in a note that a break below $2,450 could trigger a decline down to $2,434 or even $2,400.

* December London cocoa LCCc2 ​​fell by 5 pounds, or 0.3%, to 1,693 pounds per tonne.

(Reporting by Nigel Hunt Editing by David Holmes)

((nigel.hunt@thomsonreuters.com; +44 20 7542 8421; Reuters Messaging: nigel.hunt.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net ))

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