Raw sugar futures rose to the highest in three decades on Wednesday and white sugar hit a record peak as a massive cyclone hit Australia, the third-largest sugar exporter, deepening concerns about tight global supplies. Cocoa futures on ICE rose to just below their one-year peak, buoyed by the risk premium associated with turmoil in top grower Ivory Coast, while arabica coffee nudged higher, touching a fresh 13-1/2-year peak.
ICE March raw sugar was up 1.79 cents or 5.3 percent at 35.75 cents a lb at 1616 GMT after leaping to a 30-year high of 36.08 cents a lb on investor and fund buying. ICE March arabicas rose 0.25 cent or 0.1 percent to $2.4965 a lb at 1616 GMT after hitting $2.5150, the loftiest price for the first month contract since June 1997. ICE benchmark March cocoa rose $40 or 1.2 percent to $3,353 per tonne, below last week's one-year peak of $3,420 per tonne.