LONDON: New York cocoa futures rose on Thursday to their highest in more than 1-1/2 years as persistent speculative buying continued to lend support, while sugar prices hovered near multi-year lows hit a day earlier.
COCOA
July New York cocoa was up $71 or 2.5 percent, at$2,907 a tonne by 1327 GMT, after hitting $2,943, its highest since September 2016.
Dealers said persistent buying by speculators, who hold a large bullish stance in the market, continued to lift prices.
Prices have also been supported recently by signs that smaller crops in West Africa and good demand will pave the way for a balanced market.
July London cocoa was up 25 pounds, or 1.3 percent, at 1,887 pounds a tonne.
The New York July contract's rare premium over London July strengthened further, peaking at a fresh high above $270 per tonne on Thursday, from a close of around $230 a day earlier.
"The systematic funds have gone into New York much more aggressively than in London," one dealer said. "There's less fund activity in London."
Origin hedging has further capped gains in London, although dealers noted this pressure was easing as producers in Ivory Coast and Ghana were now seen as relatively well hedged.
Ivory Coast exported 1,078,859 tonnes of raw cocoa beans by the end of March, up about 19.5 percent from the same period a year earlier, provisional port data showed on Wednesday.
SUGAR
August white sugar rose $3.70, or 1.2 percent, to $316 a tonne, having fallen to its lowest since December 2008 on Wednesday.
May raw sugar, which expires on Monday, was down 0.02 or 0.2 percent to 10.84 cents per lb, after slumping to its lowest since September 2015 a day earlier.
Prices have been under pressure from ample global supplies, coupled with a weaker Brazilian real and intensifying producer hedging.
"There has been increased urgency to the selling...with producers losing patience, having waited for a correction to an oversold technical condition," Nick Penney, senior trader at Sucden Financial, said in a market update.
Technical signals spurred some corrective buying on Thursday following the prior day's sharp fall, dealers said.
Brazil's 2018/19 center-south cane crop is seen between 553 million and 585 million tonnes, according to Canaplan consultancy.
COFFEE
July arabica coffee was up 1.15 cents, or 1 percent, at $1.1995 per lb.
July robusta coffee was up $6, or 0.3 percent, at $1,766 a tonne.
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