London cocoa higher

London's cocoa market closed higher for a second session as speculative selling eased, allowing prices to break out of a recent range, traders said.
Liffe's benchmark December finished 16 pounds higher at 823 pounds a tonne after a session high of 826 - the contract's strongest price since September 14.
The day's low was 804 and the contract moved 7,583 lots. "Cocoa seems to have satisfied its hunger for the downside," one dealer said. "Speculators have given it a breather and trade seem to think the market is starting to bottom out a bit." He said it had needed to close above 819, a recent stumbling block, to highlight potential up to 840/850.
Turnover came to a total of 11,142, partly on the back of structural trade.
More than 1,300 trade Against Actuals were posted on March, bringing the second-month's volume to 3,212 lots. It closed up 15 pounds at 842.
Most cocoa players agree that West Africa is likely to produce an early main crop with good volume and quality but the market is split on the likely extent of damage from dry weather to the end of the crop.
COFFEE CLIMBS:
London coffee concluded higher on Wednesday thanks to short covering by speculators but volume was fairly thin as the market waited for fresh fundamental or technical signals, traders said.
Liffe's benchmark November robusta rose $21 to $877 a tonne after trading in an $848-883 range on volume of 3,309 lots. Total volume was a modest 6,664 lots.
"It's just screaming out for direction," one dealer said, noting some light speculator short covering into speculator buying.
Some market participants say a possible supply squeeze later this year could support robusta although others say New York is likely to drag London lower and that both markets look technically weak, making them vulnerable to renewed fund selling. Ivory Coast coffee bean exports totalled 88,008 tonnes from October to August, down about 17 percent on the same period last year, port data showed on Wednesday.
SUGAR FLAT:
London white sugar futures closed flat on Wednesday after a session marked by trade buying as the market tracked the rise in raw sugar futures in New York, and traders and analysts said the medium-term outlook was firm.
Front month December settled down 10 cents or 0.03 percent at $300.00 per tonne in volume of 3,284 lots, after trading from $303.00 to $295.70. March concluded up $2.10 at $303.00 per tonne in volume of 1,516 lots, having moved from $305.00 to $297.00.