ICE cocoa futures closed lower in heavy volume on Tuesday, as the embattled leader in top producer Ivory Coast negotiated the terms of his departure, which would allow exports to resume soon. ICE arabica coffee futures surged in its biggest one-day percentage gain in five months on a flurry of short-covering in heavy volume that was nearly double the average.
Raw sugar futures eased, under pressure from a stronger dollar and weaker oil prices. ICE May cocoa closed down $45 at $2,975 a tonne. Arabica coffee futures surged in the highest volume since February 15 above 30,000 lots on waves of short-covering and fresh buying after triggering key support levels $2.5780 and $2.6235, basis May, dealers said.
ICE May arabicas jumped 12.20 cents or 4.8 percent to close at $2.6825 per lb, in the biggest one-day percentage change since November 2010. Newedge's McDougall said the focus in the market will be on how much sugar will be delivered when London's May white sugar contract goes off the board on April 15. ICE May raw sugar fell 0.45 cent to close at 27.55 cents per lb. Nick Penney of broker Sucden Financial said, "We are testing the upper end of the recent range in both markets (whites and raws) and should there be a failure to make headway, we suspect that given the better medium/long term picture, values may retrace sharply."