London cocoa, sugar and coffee climb

London cocoa futures touched fresh 4-1/2-month peaks on Monday, powered by a surge in US futures on worries over a strike in top grower Ivory Coast, while coffee also settled higher driven by US futures.
London white sugar futures climbed in late trade, bolstered by a surge in US futures through the psychological 10 cents per lb on fund and speculative buying.
London benchmark March cocoa futures jumped 1.55 percent to close up 16 pounds at 1,050 pounds per tonne, having earlier hit a 4-1/2-month high of 1,055 pounds per tonne. "It's spec follow through buying to the rise in New York," one London cocoa futures trader said.
Traders also referred to rollover business in the December contract, which expires on Wednesday. US March cocoa futures climbed to a 4-1/2-month high of $2,099 per tonne on "scared short-covering" due to a strike in Ivory Coast, dealers said.
Temporary labourers at cocoa exporters in Ivory Coast's port cities Abidjan and San Pedro staged a strike on Monday, halting loading and unloading of beans at all major exporting companies, shippers said.
Cocoa arrivals at ports in Ivory Coast reached around 549,000 tonnes by December 9, 2007, according to an estimate by exporters on Monday, compared with 421,390 tonnes by the same stage of the 2006/07 season.
London robusta coffee futures also picked up buying momentum on the back of US futures as fund buying drove arabicas higher. March rose $51 or 2.77 percent to close at $1,853 per tonne in brisk volume of 9,506 lots. January rose $48 or 2.65 percent to settle at $1,824 per tonne.
Dealers said the market had recovered strongly after tumbling early last week to a three-month low of $1,711, basis January. Roaster buying has helped to underpin values.
London white sugar futures rallied late in the session in sympathy with US raw sugar futures which soared on speculative and fund buying back through the key psychological 10 cents per lb, a level that could ignite a fresh wave of producer selling. March settled up $3.50 or 1.20 percent at $295.0 per tonne in above-average volume of 4,845 lots.