US cocoa futures ended a shade up on Wednesday, although limited activity by producers and manufacturers anchored the benchmark contract to the middle of a 1-week trading range in light turnover, traders said.
The New York Board of Trade's active cocoa contract for May delivery gained just $1 to settle at $1,505 a tonne, after dealing from $1,492 to $1,510.
"It looks like there is mostly speculative activity. We only did a volume of 5,614 lots today," a trader said, speaking from the NYBOT cocoa ring. "It's not a busy day - there is not a lot going on," he said, adding that "we're just stuck in a range."
The May contract has been drifting aimlessly between $1,482 and $1,523 for the past week. Among other cocoa futures, July rose $1 to end Wednesday's session at $1,528 a tonne and back months finished flat to up $6.
Elsewhere, the Liffe's May cocoa contract in London settled up 1 pounds at 915 pounds a tonne after a session of balanced trade.
On the supply front, rains in mid-March have generally helped development of top grower Ivory Coast's intermediate (April-September) crop, farmers and analysts said on Wednesday. Market participants expect Ivory Coast's mid-crop output to reach between 250,000 and 350,000 tonnes.
The West African country's main crop, which runs from October through March, has so far generated an estimated 900,000 tonnes of cocoa beans which were delivered to ports.
In Ghana, the No 2 cocoa producer, the incoming head of cocoa regulator Cocobod has been given thumbs up to radically overall the industry in an effort to boost efficiency, a presidential spokesman said Wednesday.
The move is in response to growing criticisms that Cocobod's poor organisation has led to sector problems, ranging from poor bean quality to payments and delayed deliveries.
Open interest in cocoa futures on the NYBOT rose 451 lots to 130,434 contracts as of March 21.