LONDON: London cocoa futures on ICE climbed to a three-month peak on Monday as the market awaited release of closely watched fourth-quarter grinding data for Europe and North America.

Raw sugar, arabica coffee and New York cocoa futures markets were closed on Monday for Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

COCOA

March London cocoa ended 0.3% higher at 1,779 pounds a tonne after hitting a three-month peak of 1,790 pounds.

Dealers said the grinding data covering the fourth quarter of 2021 should provide further evidence that demand is rebounding after dipping in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. The European grind is due to be released on Wednesday and the North American grind on Thursday.

Asia’s fourth-quarter cocoa grind rose 6.33% year on year to 231,309 tonnes, data from the Cocoa Association of Asia showed on Friday.

Weather conditions last week in most of Ivory Coast’s cocoa-growing regions were encouraging for the growth of the April to September mid-crop, farmers said on Monday.

SUGAR

March white sugar ended 1.1% higher at $508.30 a tonne after peaking at a one-month high of $508.40.

Dealers noted the premium for white sugar against raw sugar has climbed recently and now stands at about $100 a tonne.

The rise in the white premium could mean that a greater proportion of Indian exports will be a form of white sugar, broker Marex said in a note.

COFFEE

March robusta coffee fell 0.4% to close at $2,218 a tonne.

Dealers said speculators had been cutting long positions in robusta coffee with a pick-up in shipments from top robusta producer Vietnam helping to ease concerns about short-term supply tightness.