SOFTS-Raw sugar hovers above low; cocoa extends decline

LONDON, April 9 (Reuters) - Raw sugar futures were consolidating just above a recent 2-1/2 year low on Monday as excess supplies continued to cap prices while London cocoa extended its retreat from a one-year high set in late March.

SUGAR

* May raw sugar was unchanged at 12.34 cents per lb at 1054 GMT as the market continued to hover just above a 2-1/2 year low of 12.18 cents set on March 28.

* Dealers said that scope for any significant recovery in prices appeared limited, with the market struggling to absorb excess supplies.

* "With lower consumption growth and probably higher productivity growth, and above all with creeping protectionism returning in India and Pakistan in the form of subsidised exports, this chronic surplus will continue indefinitely," broker Marex Spectron said in a report on Monday.

* May white sugar, which expires on Friday, rose by $0.60, or 0.2 percent, to $349.30 a tonne.

* Brazil has proposed that China introduce a quota for imports of Brazilian sugar that would face a 50 percent levy to solve a trade spat between both countries but China is resisting the plan, a person close to the negotiations told Reuters on Friday.

COCOA

* July London cocoa was down 7 pounds, or 0.4 percent, at 1,714 pounds a tonne.

* Prices have been falling over the past couple of weeks after the second month rose to a one-year high of 1,854 pounds on March 26.

* Dealers said an improving crop outlook in Ivory Coast had helped to spark the retreat in prices.

* "We could see prices remain under pressure today. Despite recent softness, the market remains on the front foot but a decisive break below 1,676 (pounds a tonne) could change this," Sucden Financial analyst Geordie Wilkes said in a market note.

* May New York cocoa was down $16, or 0.65 percent, at $2,437 a tonne.

COFFEE

* May arabica coffee was up 0.5 cents, or 0.4 percent at $1.1795 per lb. The front month fell to a low of $1.1595 last week, its weakest since June.

* Speculators increased their net short position in arabica coffee contracts on ICE Futures U.S. in the week to April 3, lifting it to a record as prices fell to a nine-month low, U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) data showed on Friday.

* May robusta coffee was up $10 at $1,740 a tonne. (Reporting by Nigel Hunt Editing by David Goodman)

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