NEW YORK/LONDON (Reuters) – New York cocoa futures on ICE rose to their highest level in more than two years on Monday, as funds extended long positions against a backdrop of tight supply, while sugar prices also rose.
COCOA
* New York May cocoa closed up $18, or 0.6%, to $2,902 a tonne after peaking at $2,923 – the highest level for a first month since December 2020.
* Operators said the recent increase was driven in part by supply shortages in Côte d’Ivoire, where arrivals at ports are lagging behind last year’s pace.
* The second largest producer, Ghana, is expected to produce a larger crop this season.
* London May Cocoa was up 6 pounds, or 0.3%, to 2,142 pounds a tonne.
COFFEE
* May arabica fell 2.35 cents, or 1.3%, to settle at $1.769 a pound.
* The market remains stuck in a recent range until there is more clarity about the size of the new Brazilian crop.
* The consultancy Pharos said in a note that Brazilian producers are refraining from closing sales on credit, opting to wait for the beginning of the harvest.
* “Harvest concerns in Brazil and Colombia are supporting coffee prices,” Fitch Solutions said in a monthly update released on Monday.
* Robusta coffee in May was up $25, or 1.1%, to $2,214 a tonne.
SUGAR
*May white sugar rose $5.90, or 1%, to $603.50 a tonne. The contract hit a six-month high as the outlook for the European crop deteriorated.
* “We think the sugar beet acreage in Europe will be the second smallest in six years in 2023,” said Stephen Geldart, analyst at brokerage Czarnikow. “This is despite sugar beet prices paid to farmers increasing by up to 50% this year.”
* May raw sugar closed up 0.11 cents, or 0.5%, at 20.93 cents a pound.
* Traders said the market was driven in part by gains in energy markets.
(Reporting by Marcelo Teixeira and Nigel Hunt)
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