SOFTS-Coffee prices jump nearly 7% in New York after stocks drawn

NEW YORK, Nov 30 (Reuters) - Prices for arabica coffee at the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) in New York rose nearly 7% on Thursday following a sharp reduction on the amount of bags available at ICE's certified warehouses, while raw sugar prices fell more than 3%.

COFFEE

* March arabica coffee settled up 12 cents, or 6.9%, at $1.847 per lb after touching a five-month high of $1.8590.

* Traders said the sharp price spike was due to the reduction of ICE's certified arabica coffee stocks to the lowest level in 24 years.

* "Certified stock balance is just so tight. Action definitely seems squeeze like," said a U.S.-based broker, referring to investors to trying to take advantage of short-sellers.

* After falling nearly 34,000 bags on Wednesday, certified stocks were cut by more than 35,000 bags on Thursday after markets close. Stocks are now at 224,066 bags, the lowest since February 1999.

* January robusta coffee rose 3.5% at $2,611 a metric ton.

* Fresh coffee beans from Vietnam's 2023/24 harvest have yet to arrive in bulk because rains in key growing areas have disrupted bean processing, traders said.

SUGAR

* March raw sugar settled down 0.82 cents, or 3.1%, at 26.04 cents per lb after setting a seven-week low of 25.90 cents.

* Dealers said the strong pace of production in Brazil was keeping the market on the defensive.

* "A correction was expected due to a constantly bigger reported crop in Brazil," said analyst Claudiu Covrig, adding that the large long position by funds was also an indication of profit taking at some point.

* "When you cannot break the market up you break it down! Then if funds see these lower floors - this triggers profit taking and big liquidation," he said.

* March white sugar fell $17.60, or 2.4%, at $717.10 a ton.

COCOA

* March London cocoa settled down 6 pounds, or 0.2%, to 3,558 pounds a metric ton after setting a record high of 3,572 pounds.

* Prices have risen by about 90% this year, with adverse weather in West Africa curbing production and set to lead to a third successive global deficit in the current 2023/24 season (October/September).

* March New York cocoa was little changed at $4,277 a ton. (Reporting by Nigel Hunt and Marcelo Teixeira Editing by David Goodman, Kirsten Donovan and Sandra Maler)