LONDON: London cocoa futures climbed to a 14-month high on Monday before turning lower on strengthening sterling while raw sugar and arabica coffee edged higher.
COCOA
May London cocoa was down 2 pounds, or 0.1 percent, at 1,819 pounds a tonne at 1051 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 up $2, or 0.1 percent, at $2,617 a tonne.
SUGAR
May raw sugar firmed by 0.05 cents, or 0.4 percent to 12.62 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.
"The lowest previous sugar mix in any fortnight was back in 2008, at 20.5 percent. But it has to be remembered that the campaign has hardly started, with only a handful of mills operating. Most will not start until mid-April," Mare said in a weekly market update.
May white sugar rose $5.10, or 1.4 percent, to $362.30 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.
COFFEE
May robusta coffee was down $2, or 0.1 percent, at $1,688 a tonne.
May arabica coffee was up 0.15 cents, or 0.1 percent, at $1.1735 per lb.
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