US MIDDAY: cocoa and sugar up

US cocoa futures settled higher on Monday after paring gains when Ivory Coast's Laurent Gbagbo was arrested and hopes were raised that the country's cocoa exports would resume in the near future. Arabica coffee finished slightly easier in choppy dealings while raw sugar closed strong.
The benchmark May raw sugar contract gained 0.38 cent, or 1.5 percent, to close at 26.04 cents per lb. Market got a mild boost from news of more US sugar imports after a freeze hit cane crops in Florida, top sugar cane growing state in the country. May arabica coffee futures inched down 0.35 cent to finish at $2.7460 per lb. Key July cocoa futures rose $43 to settle at $3,028 a tonne.