Liffe July cocoa closed 19 pounds higher at 1,979 pounds ($3,238) a tonne on Friday after first-quarter cocoa grindings rose in Malaysia, North America and Europe as cocoa processors utilised capacity around the world to compensate for lost capacity in Ivory Coast.
Liffe May white sugar rose 70 cents to close at $697.90 a tonne. Dealers said they expected a large delivery tonnage against expiry of the Liffe May white sugar futures contract on Friday, possibly around 500,000 tonnes, likely to include Brazilian, Thai and Indian sugars. The announcement of the delivery details is expected on Monday.
Liffe July robusta coffee ended $1 lower at $2,468 a tonne as London failed to keep pace with the strength in New York arabicas, where a shortage of high-quality beans supported higher prices.
First-quarter 2011 cocoa grindings, a traditional measure of demand, rose in Malaysia, North America and Europe, partially compensating for lost processing capacity in Ivory Coast, exports from which were held up by post election civil strife in the last several months.
"Everybody expects Ivory Coast infrastructure will be up and running pretty soon, as for the banking system we don't know yet, that's the big question," a European trader said. "We need the banking system to be up and running to start exporting." Dealers were awaiting information on the state of the country's future output, particularly the upcoming mid-crop.
Hector Galvan, senior market strategist for brokerage RJO Futures in Chicago, said the day's climb was mostly technical as US cocoa ignored the weak pound and remained between the 100-day and 200-day moving averages. "The sell-off is giving people reason not to sell it as much because they don't want to sell the lows either," Galvan said, referring to the 22 percent fall from a 32-year high in March. "Traders are reluctant to take on much commitment, particularly on arabicas because of the high cost of finance on the margins for the exchange. Plus there's counterparty risk if the market goes up," one London-based broker said.
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