Liffe May cocoa climbs 42 pounds to end at 2,176 pounds a tonne on Thursday after rising to its highest in two weeks. London markets track ICE cocoa, which hit a one-year peak as investors covered short positions after the March/May spread tightened. Liffe March white sugar closes $23.90 higher at $785.40 per tonne on fund buying. The contract remains in a tight range, fluctuating widely between the $857 record high hit last week and a two-month low of $730.10 from January 7.
Liffe May robusta coffee climbs $5 to $2,259 a tonne after touching a weekly peak of $2,270 in choppy trading. A shortage of high-quality beans keeps arabica prices on tenterhooks, spilling over into the robusta market. London's May cocoa contract added 42 pounds to end at 2,176 pounds per tonne, having hit a session top of 2,205 pounds which would be its highest level in two weeks.
"We're in the middle of an export ban, so from a fundamental point that's clearly taking its toll," said Kona Haque, an analyst with Macquarie Bank. "When you have so much risk premium associated with the world's biggest producer, no one wants to go short." Emmanuel Jayet, head of agricultural commodities research at Societe Generale, said uncertainty about India's sugar exports added to the wide price fluctuations in recent weeks.
"These sugar price moves were driven by these Indian exports, so that's a big part of the volatility," he said. "It seems unlikely these exports will appear before the end of March, or even before May, so in the short-term, this tightness can only continue." Limited supplies of washed arabica coffee from top producer Colombia, a lack of producer selling, roasters being behind in their pricing and the current popularity of commodities were underpinning prices.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.