Sugar rose to a 12-week high in New York on speculation Asian demand will help to keep consumption steady and on loading delays at ports in Brazil, the world’s biggest producer.

Demand in Asia tops annual supply by 30 percent, Wilmar International Ltd. said this week after it agreed to buy Australia’s biggest sugar refiner. Exports from Brazil may face delays until at least August as loading at ports is unable to keep pace with record output, according to Cosan SA Industria & Comercio, the world’s largest cane processor.

“There is clearly an issue of logistical constraints,” a co-head of the soft-commodities department at Sucden Financial Ltd. in London, wrote in a note today.

Low domestic stocks probably will keep India, the second- biggest producer, from exporting anytime soon, Barclays Capital said this week. The Philippines today announced a plan to buy 150,000 metric tons of sugar.

Raw sugar for October delivery rose 1.6 percent to 17.36 cents a pound at 8:28 a.m. on ICE Futures U.S. in New York. The contract climbed as high as 17.41 cents, the highest price since April 16.

Prices will average between 16 and 20 cents this quarter, Narendra Murkumbi, managing director of Mumbai-based Shree Renuka Sugars Ltd., said today in an interview. “Brazil has received less rainfall, and that is boosting sugar,” he said.

Wider Backwardation

White, or refined, sugar for October delivery advanced $7.10, or 1.4 percent, to $530.10 a ton on the Liffe exchange in London. A close at that price would equate to a weekly gain of 7.8 percent, the most since the week ended June 11.

The August contract in London is at a premium of $91.80 to October-delivery sugar, a so-called backwardation that may signal limited supplies. The difference has widened from $59.50 at the end of June.

The Philippine purchase is for delivery by September to cover requirements after milling was delayed, Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala said in an interview. The country plans to “fast track” imports, Alcala said.

Paranagua, Brazil’s second-biggest soybean port, won an injunction overturning a suspension of its operations by the nation’s environmental agency, according to an announcement on its website today. The agency said yesterday it shut the port for violating environmental rules.

Eleven of 12 traders, analysts and brokers surveyed by Bloomberg forecast that white-sugar futures will advance next week, and one said the price will fall.

Cocoa for September delivery rose $3 to $2,972 a ton on ICE Futures U.S. in New York. The chocolate ingredient for September delivery fell 25 pounds, or 1.1 percent, to 2,355 pounds ($3,561) a ton on Liffe.

In New York, arabica coffee for September delivery rose 2.4 percent to $1.6605 a pound. Robusta beans for September delivery gained $20, or 1.2 percent, to $1,716 a ton on Liffe.