LONDON: New York cocoa futures edged up on Friday, supported by a larger than expected increase in second-quarter grindings in Asia, while sugar and coffee prices also advanced, buoyed by a strengthening in Brazil’s real currency.

September New York cocoa was up $2, or 0.1 percent, at $2,294 a tonne by 1358 GMT.

Dealers said the market was supported by stronger-than-expected grindings data from Asia, although the impact was partly offset by weak data from North America.

Cocoa processing in Asia rose 15 percent in the second quarter from a year earlier to 185,394 tonnes, data from the Cocoa Association of Asia (CAA) showed on Friday.

The association noted it was the strongest second quarter figure since 2015 and reflected continued robust demand.

North American cocoa grindings fell in the second quarter of 2018 to 119,301 tonnes, down 3.11 percent from the same period a year earlier, according to data from the National Confectioners Association (NCA) on Thursday.

Dealers said the decline partly reflected a shift in grindings to Europe in the quarter, where processing was more profitable due to a large premium for New York futures.

“The low rate of cocoa grinding in North America is not entirely unexpected. After all, the gap between cocoa prices in New York and London had risen for a time to more than $200 per ton, and thus to a 41-year high, which reduced grinding profitability in the region,” Commerzbank said in a market note.

The market was also underpinned by a decline in the mid-crop in top producer Ivory Coast this season.

September London cocoa rose 4 pounds, or 0.2 percent, to 1,697 pounds a tonne.

October raw sugar rose 0.16 cent, or 1.5 percent, to 11.13 cents per lb.

Dealers noted that the market had settled down to trade in a narrow band after a volatile start to the week with prices holding within Monday’s range of 10.86 cents to 11.39 cents for the remainder of the week.

October white sugar was up $3.70, or 1.2 percent, at $322.10 a tonne.

Dealers noted the whites premium had weakened in the last few days.

“We believe there is more downside to come for the premium, with India looking at a record 2018/19 crop, and EU producers likely wanting to shift old crop sugars ahead of the new campaign,” ING said in a market note.

September arabica coffee rose 1.40 cents, or 1.3 percent, to $1.1020 per lb.

September robusta coffee was $4, or 0.2 percent, higher at $1,676 a tonne.—Reuters