London cocoa futures fell back to little changed levels on Monday after climbing to a 14-month high while raw sugar and arabica coffee prices rose. May London cocoa was unchanged at 1,821 pounds a tonne at 1412 GMT. It had earlier touched a peak of 1,836 pounds, the highest for the front month since January 2017.
Dealers said the rise was driven by fund buying against the backdrop of a diminished outlook for production in West Africa this season. "From a fundamental perspective the blame is still firmly placed at the doorstep of West Africa," INTL FCStone said, pointing to challenges posed by dry weather in producer countries.
INTL FCStone acknowledged that some market participants were questioning the impact of that previously dry weather now that the rainy season has started but added that "the concern largely stems around the unrepairable damaged caused to the crop during the flowering process".
London cocoa speculators raised a net long position by 18,323 lots to 35,334 lots as of March 20, exchange data showed on Friday. "This is the largest position speculators have held in the cocoa contract since September 2016. There continue to be concerns over the West African mid-crop," ING said.
May New York cocoa was down $2, or 0.1 percent, at $2,613 a tonne.
May raw sugar rose 0.13 cents, or 1.0 percent to 12.70 cents per lb.
Dealers said the market was underpinned by a very low sugar mix of only 16.49 percent in the first half of March in centre-south Brazil because the use of cane for ethanol was more profitable. May white sugar rose $4.00, or 1.1 percent, to $361.20 a tonne.
Reduced availability of white sugar from Central America and the European Union has pushed front-month sugar futures to a premium despite a looming global supply glut. May arabica coffee was up 1.10 cents, or 0.9 percent, at $1.1830 per lb.
Dealers said the market was supported partly by concerns about dry weather in Brazil although there continues to be the potential for a huge crop in the world's top producer. May robusta coffee was up $6, or 0.4 percent, at $1,696 a tonne.
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