NY coffee, cocoa and sugar all meander lower

Feb 15 (Reuters) - Arabica coffee futures on ICE inched lower early
Thursday, but remained above the lowest level since November 2010 that they
touched on Wednesday, while U.S. cocoa consolidated down.
Raw sugar also crept into negative territory.
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8:15 AM LAST NET PCT LOW HIGH CURRENT
TRADE CHNG CHNG VOL
Sugar MAR 24.41 -0.08 -0.3% 24.25 24.55 8,820
Sugar MAY 23.48 -0.09 -0.4% 23.33 23.64 9,698
Cocoa MAR 2,372 -20 -0.8% 2,337 2,394 32
Cocoa MAY 2,365 -26 -1.1% 2,323 2,391 3,990
Coffee MAR 200.00 -0.4 -0.2% 199.70 202.25 803
Coffee MAY 202.05 -0.5 -0.3% 201.70 204.50 2,088

TOTAL MARKET VOLUME
CURRENT 30D AVG 250D AVG
ICE SUGAR 26,026 99,869 101,930
ICE COCOA 5,872 14,670 17,358
ICE COFFEE 3,891 17,058 19,362

* Raw sugar futures for March fell 0.08 cent to 24.41 cents a
lb in volume of 8,820 lots, trading in a range of 24.25 to 24.55. May
fell 0.09 cent to 23.48 cents a lb.
* Cocoa futures for March fell $20 to $2,372 a tonne in volume
of 32 lots, trading in a range of $2,337 to $2,394. May fell
$26 to $2,365 a tonne.
* Arabica coffee futures for March fell 0.40 cent to $2.0000 a
lb in volume of 803 lots, trading in a range of $1.9970 to $2.0225.
May fell 0.50 cent to $2.0205 a lb.

MARKET NEWS
* Thomson Reuters analyst Wang Tao's outlook for New York soft commodities:
raw sugar is seen neutral in 24.07-24.84 cents range, arabica coffee to range
from $2.044/lb to $2.0495/lb, and cocoa is seen retracing to $2,363/tonne.

* Robusta coffee futures firmed, with a focus on a wide premium between the
two nearby contracts, but dealers expected the higher price to encourage cash
sales from top producer Vietnam. For the latest softs wrap, please click on:

FUNDAMENTALS
* NYSE Liffe stepped up its drive to tighten regulation of its
cocoa, robusta coffee, white sugar and feed wheat contracts on Thursday, to echo
the stricter regime on the New York-based Intercontinental Exchange (ICE)
.
* Mars Inc, the maker of Snickers and Twix candy bars, will stop selling
chocolate products with more than 250 calories in them by the end of next year,
a spokeswoman said.

ECONOMY
* U.S. first-time claims for jobless benefits for week ended Feb. 11. 8:30 a.m.
EST (1330 GMT)
* U.S. housing starts and permits for January. 8:30 a.m. EST
* U.S. January Producer Price Index. 8:30 a.m. EST

MARKETS
* European shares fell and the euro eased after a delay in the decision on a
bailout for debt-strapped Greece unnerved investors.
* Gold slipped on Greece.
* Crude oil drifted lower.

(Reporting by Marcy Nicholson)