SOFTS-UPDATE 1-Firmer dollar, weaker oil drag on coffee, sugar

* Weak pound buoys London cocoa

* Industry buying in robustas

(Adds trader comment, updates prices)

By David Brough

LONDON, Nov 12 (Reuters) - A firmer dollar and weaker oil prices pressured coffee and sugar futures lower on Wednesday, while a softer pound underpinned London cocoa futures as pessimism over the outlook for the global economy deepened.

Robusta coffee futures erased early gains as the dollar strengthened, and dealers saw further downside price risk in sugar.

The euro pared gains against the dollar on Wednesday after data underlined economic weakness, while sterling tumbled after a grim Bank of England forecast fuelled expectations for more UK interest rate cuts.

Oil fell more than 2.5 percent to trade below $58 a barrel for the first time in 20 months as expectations of weaker energy demand more than offset news of reductions in supply.

January robustas were down $28 or 1.5 percent to $1,812 per tonne in moderate volume of 2,913 lots at 1319 GMT.

ICE December arabicas were down 0.3 cent or 0.3 percent to $1.1200 per lb. "The New York market (in arabica coffee) is off and that is bringing arbitrage selling into London," a robusta dealer said. "Industry is starting to buy the formward months a little bit."

Weak oil prices dragged on commodities, although sterling- denominated London cocoa held up, buoyed by the slide in the pound to a 12-year low on a trade-weighted basis, as the Bank of England's inflation report showed a shrinking UK economy.

ICE March cocoa was down $4 or 0.2 percent to $1,950 per tonne at 1322 GMT, while London March cocoa was up 12 pounds or 0.9 percent to 1,318 pounds per tonne.

Dealers noted that cocoa bean arrivals from the main crop in top producer Ivory Coast were slow.

Normality is returning to Ivory Coast's cocoa sector after a badly disrupted start to the new season and the pace of deliveries to shippers is picking up, exporters and farmers said on Wednesday.

Cocoa merchants expect the 2008/09 harvest in the No. 1 grower, which began last month after a delay, to be smaller than last season's harvest. So far, arrivals of beans ready for export are well behind last's pace but there are signs of stability.

Ivory Coast's political leaders on Monday postponed a post-war presidential election planned for Nov. 30 and asked electoral officials to set a new date by Dec. 31.

London white sugar futures were little changed in sympathy with raw sugar, with price risks to the downside due to the firmer dollar and weaker oil prices, dealers said.

ICE March raw sugar was down 0.08 cent to 11.72 cents per lb at 1327 GMT.

London December white sugar was down $2.0 or 0.6 percent to $323.0 per tonne. The International Sugar Organization (ISO) on Tuesday cut its 2008/09 (October/September) global sugar deficit forecast to 3.6 million tonnes from a previous forecast deficit of 3.9 million tonnes.

The ISO also forecast that the 2009/10 global sugar deficit would stand at around 4.5-5.0 million tonnes.

The sixth factory test on sugar beet delivered to refineries in Germany this season showed sugar content of 17.89 percent against 17.38 percent in the same test last year, the association of German sugar producers WVZ said on Wednesday.

Ethanol sales by Brazil's centre-south mills this season, from April through October, jumped 26 percent from the same period in 2007, the Sugar Cane Industry Association (Unica) said on Tuesday. (Reporting by David Brough; editing by Editing by Peter Blackburn)