October white sugar at Liffe ended $19.70 higher at $539.20 per tonne. Market supported disruptions to harvesting in top producer Brazil and the prospect of strong demand from India. December cocoa ended up 17 pounds at 1,944 pounds per tonne, having earlier set a new contract high of 1,955 pounds. Market supported by a bullish technical outlook after its recent strong performance.
November robusta coffee closed $17 lower at $1,478 per tonne. Recent rally appears to have run out of steam after the second month climbed to a one-month high of $1,520 earlier this week. A pick-up in origin sales has helped cap the advance.
In early trade, ICE cocoa futures rallied to a 14-month peak on Thursday, but traders saw downside near-term price risk due to imminent supplies from West African main crop harvests. Sugar rose and coffee eased in light, choppy dealings. Sugar remained well supported by strong market fundamentals, notably expectations of good Indian import demand.
ICE December cocoa edged up to a fresh high of $3,074 per tonne, the highest since July 2008, and later dipped in volatile trading in slim volumes. Luke Chandler, soft commodities analyst at Rabobank in London, told Reuters the near-term price outlook for cocoa was bearish due to the start of main crop harvesting in West Africa soon, although currencies could cushion the blow.
"We're expecting prices to ease in the coming months, but with a weaker dollar that will limit the losses," he said. In choppy trade, ICE December cocoa futures fell $3 to $3,030 per tonne at 1426 GMT, while London December cocoa was down 5 pounds at 1,922 pounds in moderate volume of 3,164 lots. "It's probably a little bit of profit-taking and a technical correction," Chandler said.
Dealers remained concerned about the quality of the coming main crop in the world's top cocoa grower Ivory Coast, and are watching for any potential impact of the El Nino weather pattern on production in key growing centres. A strong Indian appetite for sugar has triggered a doubling of raw sugar values this year, after the world's number 1 consumer had a dismal domestic harvest, with this year's poor monsoon auguring for low output again next year.
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