SOFTS-Cocoa rises, sugar dips, focus on Brazil conference

* Brazil sugar week focused on persistent rainfall

* Cocoa dealers see no market impact from Ivorian strike

LONDON, Oct 20 - ICE benchmark cocoa futures rose on Tuesday to fresh 15-month highs, aided by a softer dollar, while sugar and coffee eased with the sugar market focused on the Brazil conference week.

The dollar hit a 14-month low against a basket of currencies on a cocktail of policymaker comments.

In cocoa, dealers said a strike by a union repesenting a third of the cocoa cooperatives in top producer Ivory Coast, did not appear to have any market impact, as cocoa new crop export supplies were flowing steadily from West Africa.

"We hear similar stories every year," said one London-based cocoa dealer. "There is a lack of selling."

ICE December cocoa rose $26 to $3,331 per tonne at 1121 GMT, having earlier touched a 15-month peak of $3,344, while London March cocoa was up 15 pounds to 2,168 pounds per tonne in moderate volume of 1,938 lots.

BRAZIL SUGAR WEEK

Sugar futures edged down in thin routine two-way investor dealings, with many traders away from their desks for Brazil sugar industry week.

The focus at the Brazil sugar week was the impact of persistent and excessive rainfall in the world's top producer and exporter, dealers said.

"We'll have to wait till we get past this spell (rainfall)," said David Sadler, a senior sugar futures dealer. "I don't know if it's done any damage but it's certainly slowed things down."

Dealers talked of a lack of fresh physical offtake in sugar, and said if benchmark ICE futures move higher and break above key psychological resistance at 25 cents a lb, producer selling could kick in.

"I think we're struggling to break (above) 25 cents," Sadler said.

Raw sugar futures more than doubled this year, due to the impact of strong Indian import demand and heavy rains in Brazil.

Sugar exports from Brazil's main sugar cane-producing region this season will be much less than previously forecast due to rains that cut output from the world's largest producer, Datagro analysts said on Monday.

Dealers saw key resistance in March at 25 cents and then at 26.25 cents, with support at 21.00-21.50 cents.

ICE March raw sugar futures were down 0.18 cent to 23.99 cents a lb, while London December white sugar was down $5.20 to $598.00 per tonne in slim turnover of 1,046 lots.

Arabica coffee futures edged below Monday's settlement around 15-month highs on light investor selling.

ICE December arabica coffee futures fell 1.9 cents to $1.4235 per lb, while London November robusta futures fell $8 to $1,453 per tonne in modest volume of 4,163 lots.