London cocoa futures surged to a 5-1/2 year high on Thursday as heavy fund buying against the backdrop of bullish fundamentals fired the market, while robusta coffee crept up on light investor demand. White sugar futures struggled, pressured by a stronger dollar and huge global oversupply.
"From a macro fund point of view they're taking profits, even in things like grains and energy that have given us a lot on the upside," said Lars Steffensen, managing director of commodities investing at Ebullio Capital Management in London. London September cocoa climbed as much as 3 percent to 1,604 pounds a tonne, a level not seen since October 2002. It settled up 32 pounds at 1,589 pounds.
London robusta coffee futures rose more than one percent on investor buying but volumes were thin and the upside was limited by a strengthening dollar. London September coffee settled up 1.19 percent to $2,209 per tonne after touching intraday high of $2,217. ICE July arabicas was up 0.70 cent to $1.3430 per lb.
One trader said funds were 37,000 lots long in the London market. The front month August white sugar finished $0.40 higher at $353.90 a tonne but other months were lower. ICE July raw sugar futures were trading down 0.38 percent at 10.55 cents per lb at 1702 GMT.