RTRS:SOFTS-Sugar up, crop concerns in China, Brazil support
LONDON Aug 26 (Reuters) - Soft commodities rose on Friday, boosted by the weaker dollar, as agricultural markets continued to show resilience in the face of the global economic slowdown.
SUGAR
* Raw sugar futures were higher in early trading, boosted by further reductions to top producer Brazil's crop prospects and concerns of dry weather reducing China's output.
* Sugar production in the key center-south region of Brazil in 2011/12 is forecast at 30.63 million tonnes, Lausanne-based consultancy Kingsman SA said on Friday.
* October raw sugar futures on ICE were up 0.22 cent or 0.7 percent at 29.88 cents a lb at 0916 GMT. The front month peaked at a contract high of 31.85 cents a lb on Wednesday.
* Showers earlier this week failed to end a lingering drought in China's top sugar region of Guangxi, which produces about 60 percent of the country's total sugar output, local agriculture officials said on Friday.
* Kenya's biggest sugar producer, Mumias Sugar , posted a 21-percent rise in full-year pretax profit on Friday to 2.65 billion shillings ($28.6 million) and said plans to diversify further from sugar production would lift growth.
* Brazil's dominance on world commodities markets over the centuries was built on the flow of ships through Santos, which is expected to triple movement of cargo over the next 15 years as it has over the past 20, the port authority said.