Cocoa futures on ICE traded at 1-1/2-year highs on Thursday, boosted partly by nearby supply tightness, while raw sugar and arabica coffee prices edged up.
March London cocoa was up 8 pounds, or 0.4%, at 1,963 pounds a tonne at 1504 GMT after peaking at 1,970 pounds, the highest for the benchmark second month since May 2018.
Dealers said a shortage of available cocoa to tender against the December contract remained a supportive factor with the front month trading at a premium of about 105 pounds to March.
The outlook for production in top grower Ivory Coast remained generally favourable with conditions becoming drier after weeks of wet weather.
March New York cocoa was up $16, or 0.6%, at $2,671 a tonne after rising to a peak of $2,686, also the highest since May 2018.
The front month premium in New York rose sharply on Thursday, climbing to more than $90 a tonne from around $33 at the close on Wednesday.
March raw sugar rose by 0.01 cent, or 0.1%, to 12.86 cents per lb, hovering just below Wednesday's six-week high of 12.91 cents.
December white sugar fell by $2.10, or 0.6%, to $332.20 a tonne.
Open interest on the December contract, which expires on Friday, has been falling steadily and stood at 3,542 lots, as of Wednesday's close, equating to 177,100 tonnes of sugar.
March arabica coffee was up 0.15 cents, or 0.1%, at $1.1130 per lb.
January robusta coffee rose $25, or 1.8%, to $1,436 per tonne.


















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