US cocoa futures finished higher on Friday, on light volume and continued technical support as fund and speculative buying buoyed prices, traders said. "It seems like this market doesn't want to go down right now. It looks like the specs are going to try to make a run at $2,012 (basis September) in the near term, that's the main goal now," one trader said.
The New York Board of Trade front-month July contract gained $23 to finish at $1,958, while key September futures rose $19 to $1,955, trading in a range from $1,937 to $1,958.
The rest were $19 higher. The September contract trading on the IntercontinentalExchange NYBOT electronic platform was up $17 at $1,953, at 12:48 pm EDT (1648 GMT), in dealings from $1,936 to $1,957. One contracts aside, the rest ranged from $3 to $22 higher. Electronic trading ends at 3:15 pm.
The world's top producer Ivory Coast's 2007/08 main cocoa harvest could begin ahead of its official October start and produce an abundant crop if good rainfall seen in recent weeks keeps up, exporters and analysts said this week.
The October-March main crop, which usually turns out around 1 million tonnes, will take over from the April-September mid or intermediate crop, which has disappointed exporters after drought-like conditions earlier this year cut output.