Raw sugar futures rallied Monday to a fresh 30-year high on tight supplies which are seen bolstering the sweetener into 2011, analysts said. Arabica coffee eased from a 13-1/2 year peak, and cocoa was marginally firmer due to lingering worries the political crisis in Ivory Coast - the world's top cocoa producer - may disrupt bean supplies.
Trading volume in the New York soft commodity markets was light as most trading desks emptied for the Christmas and New Year holidays. While trading will be choppy in the short term, soft commodities will have a bullish cast heading into 2011 given tight supplies of high-quality arabicas and political upheaval in Ivory Coast, Smith said.
New York's March raw sugar contract gained 0.46 cent to end at 32.96 cents per lb after hitting a fresh 30-year high of 33.50 cents. London's March white sugar futures rose $7.40 to conclude at $798.10 per tonne, having hit a session top of $809.60. But volume in the raw sugar market in New York was about 61,700 lots, about 40 percent below the 30-day average, Thomson Reuters preliminary data showed. Sugar dealers said persistent rainfall in Australia and a modest export flow from India, the world's second-largest producer after Brazil, supported prices, with fund buying pushing ICE raw sugar to a new 30-year high.
The key March cocoa contract in New York rose $7 to finish at $2,958 per tonne. London's March cocoa futures added 4 pounds to close at 1,987 pounds per tonne. Coffee prices came off 13-1/2 year highs, but problems in Colombia's coffee sector should continue to prop up prices. The March arabica coffee contract on ICE Futures US eased 0.65 cent to close at $2.2465 per lb. London's March robusta coffee futures rose $4 to end at $1,990 per tonne. Volume for both coffee and cocoa were running at 40 to 50 percent below their 30-day averages, Reuters data showed.
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