London cocoa stays at 23-year high

Cocoa futures in London rose to the highest levels in more than 23 years on Wednesday as talk of a bullish crop report by independent analyst Hans Kilian fuelled fears over West African supplies, dealers said. Sugar was little changed while coffee edged higher but remained rangebound.
May cocoa in London settled up 109 pounds or 5.9 percent at 1,955 pounds a tonne, after earlier rising to a peak of 1,968 pounds a tonne, the highest level for the benchmark second month since March 1985. The weakness of sterling had already put the market on an upward track. Dealers said the cocoa looked set for a third consecutive global deficit in 2008/09 with production in the key growing region, West Africa, declining.
"Supply is obviously under a lot of pressure at the moment. Numbers out of Ivory Coast look bad and Ghana we're hearing isn't looking too good," one cocoa dealer said, referring to the world's top two cocoa producers. Cocoa arrivals at ports in top grower Ivory Coast reached 546,934 tonnes by January 4, down from 802,883 tonnes at the same stage of the season a year ago, according to exporters' data obtained by Reuters on Wednesday.
March cocoa on ICE rose $132 to $2,602 a tonne. Barry Callebaut, the world's largest chocolate maker, missed forecasts with flat first-quarter sales, pushing its shares down nearly 10 percent. Raw sugar futures were little changed with the market still keenly awaiting any move from India on duty free imports. Farm Minister Sharad Pawar said last week India is likely to allow duty-free imports of raw sugar within two weeks.
March raw sugar futures on ICE fell a marginal 0.02 cent to 12.57 cents a lb but remained well above levels traded a week ago when the contract settled at 11.43 cents. Dealers said fund buying had fuelled the rise while bouts of producer selling had helped to stem the advance. Brokers Sucden UK said in a daily market report that resistance was seen in the 12.80 to 13.00 cent area.
March whites in London ended $1.50 higher at $349.00 per tonne. Arabica coffee futures on ICE edged higher with the market rebounding after earlier dipping to a two week low. March arabica coffee futures on ICE stood 0.60 cent higher at $1.1550 per lb after touching $1.1270, its lowest level since January 6. March robustas ended $24 higher at $1,680 a tonne.