London robusta coffee futures surged to an almost three-month high on Friday on speculative buying of the November contract prompted partly by concern about short-term supply tightness, dealers said.
White sugar futures saw a sharp late advance in the October contract ahead of its expiry at the close on Friday while cocoa futures ended higher aided partly by the weakness of sterling against the dollar. Dealers noted coffee prices had rebounded strongly from a setback on Thursday and could challenge resistance early next week at a nine-year high set in late June.
"There is speculative buying. We have bounced up after the profit-taking yesterday," one dealer said. November ended up $59 or 3.1 percent at $1,940 a tonne. The contract peaked at a near three-month high of $1,943, just below the nine-year high of $1,945, basis second month, set in June.
Dealers said the rise was driven by concern about a possible fund squeeze in the November contract with a short period of supply tightness anticipated ahead of the next Vietnamese harvest.
November moved to a premium of about $130 to January, up from $100 on Thursday and only around $33 in the middle of last week. London white sugar futures finished higher with October rising sharply ahead of its expiration.
"It was panic short-covering," one dealer said, adding the holder of a short position did not appear to want to deliver. There had been some talk recently that 200,000 to 300,000 tonnes of white may be delivered against the expiration but dealers said estimates have been cut sharply during the last couple of days. October fell early to a 26-month low for the front month of $257.90 but rallied strongly to end $13.00 higher at $272.50.
London cocoa futures finished higher, boosted by a weak pound against the dollar and the market's ability to again hold key support just above its recent low of 931 pounds, basis December.
"The weakening pound is supporting London," one dealer said. December ended 24 pounds higher at 967 pounds a tonne. The contract has consistently found scale-down trade and industry support in the 930s, touching lows of 935 pounds on Wednesday, 936 pounds on Thursday and 935 pounds on Friday. The upcountry price of graded Nigerian cocoa beans has risen 2.4 percent in the past month to 210,000 naira ($1,665) as the main crop harvest begins, growers and traders said on Friday.