US MIDDAY: cocoa, sugar up

US cocoa futures finished modestly higher in heavy volume on Monday, on May/July spreading and as the crisis in top grower Ivory Coast escalated. Arabica coffee closed at a seven-week low on seasonal pressure while raw sugar finished strong. The benchmark May raw sugar contract climbed 0.56 cent to settle at 28 cents per lb. May arabica coffee futures finished down 3.85 cents or 1.5 percent at $2.5605 per lb, the lowest settlement since February 14.
Key May cocoa futures closed up $9 at $3,020 per tonne. May found good support at $2,900-$2,925 per tonne, preventing strong losses after falling nearly 23 percent from the March 4 32-year high at $3,775, said traders.