Cocoa futures on ICE rose on Thursday with the market still underpinned by concern about crop prospects in top producer Ivory Coast although a stronger pound kept London prices in check. Raw sugar futures edged higher but remained rangebound while coffee showed mixed trends with robustas buoyed by roaster buying, dealers said.
"I think we could really reach very high levels in the coming weeks because we still have bad news on the fundamental side in Ivory Coast," Romain Lathiere, fund manager with Swiss-based Diapason Commodities Management, said. May cocoa on ICE was $23 higher at $2,760 a tonne at 1635 GMT. Prices have been rising strongly since mid-November and the contract rose as high as $2,845 in late January before suffering a modest downside correction.
The rise has been driven partly by expectations of a third consecutive global cocoa deficit in 2008/09 with production in Ivory Coast set to fall. Cocoa arrivals at ports in top grower Ivory Coast reached 666,029 tonnes by January 25, down from 898,836 tonnes in the same period a year ago, according to data from exporters obtained by Reuters on Wednesday. London cocoa futures were lower, however, weakened by a rise in the value of the pound.
May cocoa in London eased eight pounds to 1,938 pounds a tonne. A plague of moth caterpillars that has devastated vegetation and infested villages in Liberia is moving north and is unlikely to attack cocoa plantations in No 1 grower Ivory Coast, a top researcher said on Thursday.
Raw sugar futures were slightly higher with the market looking to rebuild after several failed attempts to breach resistance just above 13.00 cents a lb, basis March. Dealers said the market found solid support during a brief dip below the 12.50 cent level with March up 0.09 cent at 12.68 cents a lb. The contract rose to a high of 13.07 cents on Tuesday and twice last week climbed to a peak of 13.05 cents before producer selling halted the advances.
Dealers noted the whites premium fell back on Thursday after rising during the last few days with March whites in London down $3.50 at $376.40 per tonne. Robusta coffee futures were higher, boosted by scale-down roaster buying after the recent fall in prices. March robustas in London rose $19 to $1,635 a tonne while March arabicas on ICE eased 0.10 cent to $1.1580 per lb. Arabica prices have been easing during the last few days after March rose as high as $1.2340 early last week.