LONDON, Dec 20 (Reuters) - New York cocoa futures edged up on Friday although prices remained well below a record high set earlier this week. Arabica coffee prices also rose.
COCOA
* New York cocoa futures on ICE CCc1 rose 0.4% to $12,157 a metric ton by 1253 GMT. The market climbed to a record high of $12,931 on Wednesday.
* Dealers said the market continued to derive support from a diminishing outlook for production in top grower Ivory Coast, with the potential for a fourth consecutive global deficit in the 2024/25 season.
* London cocoa LCCc1 fell by 0.1% to 9,651 pounds a ton.
* This year's record surge in prices has been fuelled by the exit of hedge funds that had oiled the workings of the cocoa market.
COFFEE
* Arabica coffee futures on ICE KCc2 rose 1.1% to $3.2735 per lb as the focus remained on the outlook for next year's crop in Brazil following a drought this year.
* Brazil's coffee crop is expected to reach 62.45 million 60-kg bags in 2025/26, a preliminary forecast released by agribusiness consultancy Safras & Mercado showed on Friday, which would represent a 5% drop from the previous season.
* The agribusiness consultancy said arabica coffee production was seen slipping 15% to 38.35 million bags while robusta output should hit 24.10 million bags.
* Forecasts for next year's arabica crop in Brazil have varied widely. Earlier this month, Volcafe forecast the arabica crop would total just 34.4 million bags while TRS by Expana projected a crop of 43 million bags.
* Robusta coffee LRCc2 rose 0.85% to $5,089 a ton.
SUGAR
* Raw sugar SBc1 rose 0.3% to 19.45 cents per lb, hovering just above the prior session's three-month low of 19.26 cents.
* March white sugar LSUc1 fell 0.3% to $507.70 a ton.
INSIGHT-How a hedge fund exodus reshaped global cocoa markets nL5N3MZ15W
(Reporting by Nigel Hunt; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
((nigel.hunt@thomsonreuters.com; +44 (0) 7990 561421; Reuters Messaging: nigel.hunt.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net ))
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