ICE cocoa, sugar, coffee up on short-covering

Cocoa and raw sugar on ICE Futures US climbed on Thursday as short-covering and a weak US dollar offset expectations of hefty supplies, and coffee futures also gained. ICE soft agricultural commodity markets will be closed on Monday for the New Year holiday.
March New York cocoa finished up $45, or 2.41 percent, at $1,911 per tonne and rose as high as $1,927. Prices are poised to end 2017 with a second straight annual loss.
Fund short-covering and a weak dollar supported prices, dealers said. The greenback hit a four-week low, making dollar-traded commodities less expensive for holders of other currencies. "Speculators have been really short, and people are pulling out now," said Jack Scoville, a vice president with Price Futures Group in Chicago.
March London cocoa settled up 27 pounds, or 1.98 percent, at 1,393 pounds per tonne. Traders focused on crop development in the Ivory Coast and Ghana, where the bulk of global supplies are produced.
"Any rain that does fall should be light and won't slow harvesting of the main crop. However, more rains are needed for the mid-crop in Ivory Coast," MDA Information Systems said in a note. Indonesia will set its cocoa export tax at zero in January, down from 5 percent in December. March raw sugar settled up 0.07 cent, or 0.47 percent, at 15 cents per lb and touched 15.05 cents, the highest since December 5.
Prices have received a boost this week from light speculative short-covering amid expectations that index funds will buy about 60,000 lots in January when they rebalance their investments. Sugar is down over 23 percent in 2017, on track for the biggest loss since 2011.
"The action seems to be driven more by weight of orders and order flow, as sporadic short-covering by funds and speculators is met by renewed producer pricing," Sucden Financial's Nick Penney said in a market note. Brazil's President signed into law a bill that could lead to sharp increases in the use of biofuels, the Official Gazette said on Wednesday.
March white sugar finished up 80 cents, or 0.20 percent, at $393.8 per tonne. ICE March arabica coffee settled up 0.3 cent, or 0.24 percent, at $1.248 per lb, but on track for an annual loss.
March robusta coffee closed up $4, or 0.23 percent, at $1,715 per tonne. Harvesting in Vietnam's Central Highlands coffee belt is nearly done, traders said.