SOFTS-Robusta coffee sets 4-year high, arabica also up

Updates prices

LONDON, Aug 27 (Reuters) - Robusta coffee futures on ICE climbed to a four-year high on Friday while arabica prices also rose as the market's focus remained on crop losses in Brazil and disruptions to shipping beans from major producing countries.

COFFEE

* November robusta coffee LRCc2 rose by $28, or 1.4%, to $2,022 a tonne by 1339 GMT after hitting a four-year peak of $2,024.

* Fitch Solutions said in a note that the price outlook for coffee would be driven by the extent of crop losses in Brazil following recent frosts, adding "should the damage be significant, further upside in prices is likely."

* "This comes at a time when exports out of Vietnam are also constrained by an ongoing large Covid-19 wave and a container shortage," the note added.

* Difficulties in transporting robusta beans from Asian producers such as Vietnam to Europe is making ICE robusta stocks more attractive.

* December arabica coffee KCc2 was up 3.25 cents, or 1.7%, at $1.9125 per lb.

SUGAR

* October raw sugar SBc1 rose by 0.12 cents, or 0.6%, to 19.80 cents per lb.

* Dealers said the market was underpinned by the prospect of a global deficit in the upcoming 2021/22 season driven partly by lower than expected production in Brazil following drought and recent frosts.

* The International Sugar Organization (ISO) on Friday forecast a global sugar deficit of 3.8 million tonnes in the 2021/22 season.

* October white sugar LSUc1 rose by $6.10, or 1.3%, to $483.30 a tonne.

COCOA

* December New York cocoa CCc2 fell by $18, or 0.7%, to $2,605 a tonne.

* December London cocoa LCCc2 was down 5 pounds, or 0.3%, at 1,792 pounds a tonne.

(Reporting by Nigel Hunt; Editing by Kirsten Donovan and Jonathan Oatis)

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

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