NEW YORK/LONDON, Jan 17 (Reuters) - Arabica coffee futures on ICE closed down on Tuesday as a favourable outlook for Brazil's production kept the market on the defensive. Sugar was up, while cocoa prices were mixed.

COFFEE

* March arabica coffee settled down 0.6 cent, or 0.4%, at $1.511 per lb.

* Dealers said an improved outlook for Brazil's arabica crop after recent rains was continuing to weigh on prices.

* They noted exchange stocks were also continuing to climb, although increased demand following the recent fall in prices had slowed the pace of the rise.

* ICE certified coffee stocks were at 850,354 bags on Tuesday after 6,380 bags were added, but a similar amount left, and a volume of more than 14,000 bags failed grading. There were 120,864 bags still pending grading.

* Brazil shipped 35.57 million 60-kg bags of green coffee abroad in 2022, down 2.6% from the previous year, industry group Cecafe said on Monday.

* March robusta coffee fell $12, or 0.6%, at $1,895 a tonne.

SUGAR

* March raw sugar settled up 0.41 cent, or 2.1%, at 20.14 cents per lb.

* Dealers said the market was underpinned by nearby supply tightness and concerns that excessive rainfall in September and October could curtail production in India.

* India is likely to produce 34.3 million tonnes of sugar in 2022/23, down 4% from the previous forecast, after sugar cane yields in producing states were hit by adverse weather, a senior industry official told Reuters on Tuesday.

* March white sugar rose $7.80, or 1.4%, at $560.90 a tonne.

COCOA

* March London cocoa was little changed at 2,055 pounds per tonne.

* Dealers were awaiting fourth-quarter grind data from Europe and North America for indications on the extent to which global economic woes were affecting demand for cocoa. Both reports are due on Thursday.

* Sparse rainfall and high temperatures observed in some of Ivory Coast's cocoa-growing regions last week could damage beans and flowers and reduce the coming April-to-September mid-crop, farmers said on Monday.

* March New York cocoa fell $10, or 0.4%, to $2,641 a tonne. (Reporting by Marcelo Teixeira, Nigel Hunt and Maytaal Angel; Editing by Mark Potter and Grant McCool)