NEW YORK/LONDON: Arabica coffee rallied in the last trading session of the year on Thursday as investors continued to cover short-positions but still ended 2015 down about 24 percent as one of the worst-performing commodities.
New York cocoa on ICE Futures U.S. dipped but closed the year as the highest gainer on the Thomson Reuters Core Commodity Index, while raw sugar rallied for the third straight day to close 2015 higher.
Softs, with the exception of coffee, were the lone bright spot for commodities in 2015, as support from El Nino-related weather issues helped them avoid the deep routs suffered by energy, metals and grains.
ICE March arabica coffee settled up by 3.05 cents on Thursday, a 2.5 percent gain, at $1.267 per pound, as investors continued covering short positions ahead of the end of the year, and as some sought to establish long positions ahead of index funds, who are expected to buy coffee contracts next week.
"People are front-running the index funds," said Nick Gentile, managing partner of commodity trading advisor NickJen Capital in New York.
Arabica fell 23.8 percent on the year to end 2015 as one of the biggest losers in the commodities sector, due to rains and a weak currency in top-grower Brazil.
ICE March robusta coffee settled up by $15, a 1 percent gain, at $1,530 per tonne. Robusta finished the year down 20.1 percent.
ICE March New York cocoa settled down by $18 on Thursday, a 0.6 percent loss, at $3,211 per tonne. It ended the year up more than 10 percent, by far the best-performing commodity, driven by worries over the impact of a strong El Nino weather phenomenon on West African supplies.
London cocoa settled up 10 pounds, or 0.4 percent, at 2,255 pounds per tonne and ended 2015 up 15 percent.
ICE March raw sugar settled up by 0.09 cent, a 0.6 percent gain, at 15.24 cents per pound, and was another strong performer on the year, ending 2015 up nearly 5 percent.
ICE March white sugar ended 2015 up 7.9 percent, settling up $3.20 on Thursday to close the year at $422.20 a tonne.
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