US MIDDAY: CSCE cocoa soars, coffee and sugar climb

Price levels for the New York Board of Trade (NYBOT) coffee, sugar and cocoa markets:
CSCE COFFEE: March arabica coffee opened higher than expected on early speculative buying. March gains 1.00 cent to 69.35 cents per lb. at 1021 EST (1521 GMT), moving between 68.70 and 69.90 cents.
Traders said the market is likely to trade sideways the remainder of the day with the February 2004 options expiring. Traded volume was 1,462 lots at 1000 EST (1500 GMT).
CSCE SUGAR: March sugar resumes its advance by midday to trade up 0.11 cent at 5.87 cents a lb., in a 5.76-5.88 cent range.
All other contracts also gain by midday. Sugar futures opened higher after a sharp sell-off on Thursday. Volume reached some 5,514 lots by 1000 EST.
CSCE COCOA: March cocoa gapped higher on the opening with the strong gains in London. Beans have traded higher on speculative and arbitrage buying, according to floor brokers.
Dealers look for the market to have a strong finish to the day on pre-weekend short-covering. Producer selling has been scattered.
Benchmark March is $70 higher to $1,681 a tonne at 1023 EST (1523 GMT) with a $1,658-$1,698 range. The traded volume was about 2,874 lots at 1000 EST.