Recasts, includes comments and closing prices
NEW YORK/LONDON, Jan 14 (Reuters) – Cocoa futures on ICE gained 2% and hit a three-month high on Friday, buoyed by signs that demand is continuing to pick up after dipping in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.
COCOA
* March New York cocoa CCc1 settled up $50, or 1.9%, at $2,659 a tonne, having hit the highest price since Oct. 13 earlier in the session at $2,683 a tonne.
* Dealers said the contract broke several resistance levels during the session, triggering more buying.
* Asia’s fourth-quarter cocoa grind, a key indicator of demand, rose 6.33% year-on-year to 231,309 tonnes, data from the Cocoa Association of Asia showed on Friday.
* The fourth-quarter European grind is due to be released on Jan. 19 and the North American grind on Jan. 20.
* March London cocoa LCCc1 rose 40 pounds, or 2.3%, to 1,773 pounds per tonne after peaking at 1,776 pounds – the highest level for the front month since Oct. 19.
COFFEE
* March robusta coffee LRCc2 settled down $9, or 0.4%, at $2,228 a tonne.
* Dealers said that a pickup in shipments from top robusta producer Vietnam had helped ease concerns about short-term supply tightness while exchange stocks have begun to creep up.
* Valid ICE robusta stocks stood at 97,290 tonnes at Jan. 12, up marginally from 97,120 tonnes a week earlier.
* March arabica coffee KCc1 closed up 2.65 cents, or 1.1%, at $2.3965 per lb.
* Brazil’s exporters association Cecafe holds a press conference on Monday to discuss the trade during 2021.
SUGAR
* March raw sugar SBc1 settled up 0.22 cent, or 1.2%, at 18.31 cents per lb. The front month has slowly regained some ground after falling to a 5-1/2-month low of 17.60 cents on Monday.
* Dealers noted the upside appeared limited, however, with improving production outlooks for Thailand and India likely to temper any bullish sentiment related to China.
* Analyst Green Pool on Friday cut its forecast for China’s sugar production in 2021/22 to less than 10 million tonnes and added that an elevated risk of frost because of the La Nina weather event made for further downside potential.
* March white sugar LSUc1 gained $5.30, or 1.1%, to $502.60 a tonne.
(Reporting by Marcelo Teixeira and Nigel Hunt Editing by David Goodman, Kirsten Donovan and Jonathan Oatis)
(([email protected]; +1 332 220 8062; Reuters Messaging: [email protected] – https://twitter.com/tx_marcelo))
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