NEW YORK/LONDON, Jan 18 (Reuters) -

Raw sugar futures on ICE fell on Wednesday after hitting a 2-1/2 week high earlier in the session, while arabica coffee extended its recovery from last week's 1-1/2 year lows.

SUGAR

* March raw sugar settled down 0.32 cent, or 1.6%, at 19.82 cents per lb, having touched a high of 20.25 cents earlier.

* Dealers said the market should continue creeping higher, helped by concerns that excessive rainfall last September and October could curtail production in India this season.

* India, the world's second largest sugar exporter, has contracted to ship about 5.6 million tonnes of sugar since the government said late last year that mills could export up to 6.1 million tonnes by May.

* China, one of the world's biggest sugar buyers, imported 6.9% less sugar last December versus a year ago, data showed.

* March white sugar fell $9.30, or 1.7%, at $551.60 a tonne.

COCOA

* March London cocoa settled down 29 pounds, or 1.4%, to 2,026 pounds per tonne.

* Asia's fourth-quarter cocoa grind, a measure of demand, fell 0.2% year-on-year to 230,806 tonnes, data showed.

* Brazil's cocoa grind increased slightly in 2022, but imports were down due to better local production.

* Dealers are awaiting fourth-quarter grind data from Europe and North America for further indications on the extent to which global economic weakness is affecting cocoa demand.

* March New York cocoa fell 0.5% to $2,628 a tonne.

COFFEE

* March arabica coffee rose 3.9 cents, or 2.6%, at $1.55 per lb.

* The recent price retreat in arabica prices is spurring some demand, dealers said. They added, however, that gains remain capped by an improved outlook for top producer Brazil's upcoming arabica crop after good rains this season.

* Stocks of green coffee in the United States fell 12,573 bags at the end of December to 6.37 million bags, the Green Coffee Association said. The amount, however, is still above the average for this period and 9.3% ahead of last year.

* March robusta coffee rose $7, or 0.4%, at $1,902 a tonne. (Reporting by Marcelo Teixeira and Maytaal Angel; editing by John Stonestreet, Bernadette Baum and Maju Samuel)