Liffe May robusta coffee ends $47 up at $2,258 a tonne after touching $2,261 a tonne, the highest for the second month contract since September 2008. Dealers say the contract was boosted by technical trading after breaking through contract highs in the previous session.
Liffe March white sugar climbs $7.60 to close at $819.20 per tonne, earlier rising within sight of its record high of $835.80 from December 29. Sugar is boosted by turmoil in the Middle East and high oil prices, dealers say. Liffe May cocoa closes 28 pounds lower at 2,147 pounds a tonne, below its six-month peak of 2,269 pounds a tonne from January 24. Brokers say prices are cooling off after an overheated rally last week on the back of a call for a month-long export ban in top grower Ivory Coast.
Earlier in the day robusta coffee futures shot up to a fresh 2-1/4 year high on technical buying on Tuesday, tracking strength in arabicas which edged toward 13-1/2-year peaks. March robusta coffee on Liffe bounded up $33 or 1.5 percent to $2,244 a tonne at 1621 GMT after touching $2,247, its highest since August 2008. The front month contract had broken through contract highs in the previous session, a technical signal it was likely to rise further.
"You're in the middle of a fundamentally and technically driven rally so it doesn't take much to push it higher," said Andrea Thompson, analyst with CoffeeNetwork. London March white sugar was up $7.90 or 1 percent at $819.50 per tonne after touching $830.00 a tonne, near its record peak of $835.80 a tonne, hit on December 29.
Raw sugar spiked earlier in the day before falling, mirroring its volatile session on Monday, when futures tumbled 4 percent after investor selling set off technical stops, but then regained all their losses to close up 0.03 cent. London May cocoa dipped 24 pounds or 1.1 percent to 2,151 a tonne. Cocoa prices have rallied in response to the export ban called by Ivory Coast presidential claimant Alassane Ouattara on January 23, aimed to starve tax revenues from his rival for the presidency, Laurent Gbagbo.