Sugar futures probed near a 30-year high on Thursday as an EU body said it would approve extra imports, while cocoa hit a one-year peak after a call for an export ban in Ivory Coast fuelled concerns about supply. Coffee futures were little changed near multi-year peaks, with support from a weak dollar and underlying supply tightness.
The European Union's executive said on Thursday it would approve extra sugar imports and the sale of out-of-quota sugar on the EU market to address an expected supply shortage and to curb rising prices.
The March raw sugar contract on ICE climbed 0.60 cents or 1.8 percent to 33.73 cents per lb at 1523 GMT, below its 30-year peak of $34.77 a lb, touched on December 29. ICE second-month cocoa gained $17 or 0.5 percent to $3,355 at 1529 GMT, its highest since January 2010, fuelled by news that sales of cocoa beans and products from Ivory Coast had virtually stopped, while smuggling picked up. ICE March arabicas traded down 0.7 cent or 0.3 percent at $2.3680 per lb at 1532 GMT.