NEW YORK, Aug 30 (Reuters) - Refined sugar prices on the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) rose to a 12-year high on Wednesday, buoyed by the prospect of tightening supplies as dry weather threatens to curb production in India and Thailand and some countries ban exports.

India is on track for its lowest monsoon rains in eight years and is expected to ban mills from exporting sugar in the coming season starting in October. The weather has also been dry in Thailand, which is another leading exporter.

The dry weather has been linked to El Nino, a naturally occurring climate event that the World Meteorological Organization says has a 90% probability of persisting in the second half of 2023.

Pakistan's government reviewed its sugar policies this week and decided to maintain a ban on sugar exports.

"Pakistan isn't a major or consistent sugar exporter... but it follows reports India was considering doing the same," said Stephen Geldart, head of analysis at broker Czarnikow.

Investment funds have been increasing long positions in agricultural commodities, including white sugar. Citi raised its price target for raw sugar a day earlier.

October white sugar on ICE rose $5.10, or 0.7%, at $730.00 per metric ton after peaking at a 12-year high of $740.20.

Prices for raw sugar ended little changed at 25.34 cents per lb after touching a two-month peak of 25.90 cents.

London cocoa futures have also risen sharply on supply concerns and set a 46-year high on Wednesday, up 1.4% at 2,927 pounds per ton, with a third successive global deficit widely forecast for the coming 2023/24 season .

A Reuters poll issued on Wednesday had a median forecast for a global deficit of 173,000 metric tons for the 2023/24 season following a deficit of 128,000 tons in the current season.

December New York cocoa rose $51, or 1.4%, to $3,639 a ton.

Coffee prices rose, with November robusta gaining 1.9% to $2,496 a ton, while December arabica advanced by 1.5% to $1.5535 per lb.

(Reporting by Nigel Hunt and Marcelo Teixeira; Additional reporting by Gibran Peshimam in Karachi Editing by David Goodman, Kirsten Donovan and Krishna Chandra Eluri)