US cocoa futures settled at a 24-year high for a second straight day on Wednesday, on follow-through fund and speculative buying, traders said. "The funds just continue to be active," one dealer said.
In open-outcry trading, the benchmark ICE May cocoa futures contract settled $33 higher at $2,488 per tonne, the highest close for the second position since June 1984 on a monthly continuation chart.
The rest finished from $5 to $40 stronger. On the screen, the key May contract was up $32 at $2,487 by 12:58 pm EST (1758 GMT), with trades ranging from $2,450 to $2,505. The rest ranged from $29 to $35 stronger. The March/May spread continued, but at lighter volumes than previously sessions, ahead of the March contracts first notice day on Friday.
Meanwhile in Ghana, the No 2 producer, cocoa purchases declared by private buyers to the Cocobod industry regulator reached 501,000 tonnes between October 19 and January 24, an industry source said on Wednesday. Cocoa futures trading on the London market closed at a five-year high. The May contract settled up 11 pounds at 1,294 pounds per tonne, the highest close dating back to April 2003 for the second month.
The day's peak hit 1,309 pounds. ICE estimated around noon that 766 lots traded in the pit, compared with the 2,818 contracts that traded Tuesday, when heavy 36,671 lots were traded on the screen. Open interest in ICE cocoa futures rose 3,297 lots at 187,408 contracts as of February 12.