LONDON Dec 16 (Reuters) - Arabica coffee on ICE eased slightly and raw sugar registered modest gains, while cocoa was steady in early trade on Friday as a slightly weaker dollar underpinned prices. COFFEE * Arabica coffee futures dipped in early trade, although remaining just above the prior session's one-year low. * March arabica coffee on ICE was down 0.3 cent or 0.1 percent at $2.1745 a lb at 0936 GMT. The contract dipped to a one-year low of $2.1655 on Thursday. * Dealers said the weakness this week had been triggered mainly by selling across the commodity complex linked to the deepening debt crisis in the euro zone and the strengthening dollar. * March robusta coffee on Liffe was down $4 or 0.2 percent at $1,898 a tonne, having touched $1,890 a tonne earlier in the session, the lowest level for the second month since late November. * Dock workers at Brazil's largest port, Santos, called off a threatened strike after a labour tribunal upheld most of their pay demands, a senior union official said on Thursday, averting disruption to farming and manufacturing exports. SUGAR * ICE raw sugar futures edged up in early trade but remained within striking distance of the prior session's 6-1/2 month low. * Benchmark March futures traded up 0.19 cent or 0.8 percent at 22.94 cents a lb. The contract fell to 22.62 cents on Thursday, the lowest level for the front month since June. * Dealers said a period of consolidation was possible, although any further strength in the dollar could exert further downward pressure on prices. * Big crops in the EU, Russia, Ukraine, India and Thailand, weighed on the sugar market, dealers said. * March white sugar futures on Liffe rose $3.70 or 0.6 percent to $699.00 per tonne. COCOA * Cocoa futures were little changed after rebounding sharply from a three-year low set early this week. * March cocoa on ICE was up $5 or 0.2 percent at $2,156 a tonne. * Dealers said the sharp rally of the last few days appeared to have lost momentum. March set a contract low of $1,983 on Monday but rebounded to a peak of $2,274 on Wednesday. * The bounce was sparked partly by a forecast from leading cocoa trader Olam International Ltd, which warned of a tightening global market in 2012, with supplies moving into deficit after this year's record surplus drove prices too low. * May cocoa on Liffe was flat at 1,412 pounds a tonne. * Cocoa arrivals at ports in top grower Ivory Coast reached 509,852 tonnes by Dec. 11, up from 470,243 tonnes in the same period a year ago, according to data from Bourse du Cafe et Cacao (BCC) obtained by Reuters on Friday. MARKET NEWS * World stocks rose on Friday after upbeat U.S. data and corporate results, while concerns over the European banking sector and nervousness about potential ratings downgrades in European sovereign debt underpinned German government bonds. * Italy's government faces a confidence vote in parliament on Friday, a move to speed up approval of a 33-billion euro ($43 billion) austerity package intended to restore market confidence in the euro zone's third largest economy. (Reporting by David Brough; editing by Jane Baird)

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