LONDON: Raw sugar futures on ICE rose to a 4-1/2 year high on Monday, supported by fund buying against the backdrop of tightening supplies, while London cocoa climbed to a five-month peak.

SUGAR

October raw sugar was up 0.1 cents, or 0.5%, to 20.05 cents per lb at 1340 GMT after climbing to a peak of 20.17 cents - the highest since February 2017.

Dealers said diminished prospects for production in Centre-South Brazil had helped to tighten supplies.

ICE raw sugar speculators raised their net long position by 18,012 contracts to 195,392 in the week to Aug. 10, data showed.

They noted the speculative (investor) long position was at the highest level since late October 2020 when it peaked at 211,334 lots.

“Investors’ buying has surged during the rally but that is finite and likely now closer to the end,” Commonwealth Bank of Australia analyst Tobin Gorey said in a note.

October white sugar rose by $5.80, or 1.2%, to $496.90 a tonne.

COCOA

December London cocoa was 14 pounds, or 0.8%, higher at 1,802 pounds a tonne after setting a five-month high of 1,804 pounds.

Dealers said the market was supported by signs that demand is reviving as restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic are lifted in some countries.

Supplies remain ample, however, with production in both Ivory Coast and Ghana rising during the 2020/21 season (October/September).

December New York cocoa rose by $18, or 0.7%, to $2,638 a tonne? after climbing to a five-month high of $2,639.

Heavy rains across most of Ivory Coast’s cocoa-growing regions last week have rekindled hopes for an early start to the October-to-March main crop, farmers said on Monday.

COFFEE

December arabica coffee rose by 0.1 cents, or 0.05%, to $1.8585 per lb.

November robusta coffee rose by $7, or 0.4%, to $1,843 a tonne.