US cocoa futures settled in positive territory on Tuesday, bolstered by a late spurt of speculative buying into weakness, traders said. The New York Board of Trade's active cocoa contract for May delivery climbed $15, or 1.0 percent, to settle at $1,504 a tonne, having dealt from $1,482 to $1,508 matching the previous day's top trade.
"The market held for a while at $1,482 and the ring was very short at that stage of the game," a trader said, pointing out that when speculators started to buy at $1,482, the local dealers were forced to cover their short positions.
"But the light volume, large (trading) range and high settlement confuses the market even more," he added. Among other cocoa futures, July gained $16 to end at $1,527 a tonne and back month products advanced $13 to $18.
NYBOT cocoa futures trading volume fetched an estimated 5,260 lots, according to one trader. That compared with the official tally of 8,280 contracts the previous session. Open interest in cocoa futures rose 1,553 lots to 129,983 contracts as of March 20.
In top cocoa grower Ivory Coast's central region, farmers expect an average to slightly below average mid crop harvest which they say has been limited by prolonged hot weather, reported Reuters from the region.
The West African country's April-September intermediate season could generate a total harvest between 250,000 and 350,000 tonnes, according to recent market estimates. Bean arrivals at Ivory Coast's ports from the October-March main crop have so far reached about 900,000 tonnes, exporters estimated on Monday.
"I think 1.25 million (tonnes) will be the final count, so it's not a disaster," said a cocoa trader at US-based commodities trading house. "Quality is the big item this year, and that is a concern by the manufacturers," he said, adding "it's neutral" for the market. In overseas cocoa trading, the Life's May cocoa contract in London finished up 9 pounds at 914 pounds a tonne.