Cocoa futures hit record highs; robusta coffee also up

NEW YORK — Cocoa futures in both New York and London climbed to record highs on Tuesday with the market’s relentless rise fueled by a supply shortage, while coffee prices also closed higher.

COCOA: May New York cocoa settled up $321 or 4.8% to $7,049 a metric ton after setting a record high of $7,096.

Dealers said poor crops in Ivory Coast and Ghana had left buyers scrambling to get hold of supplies with a large global deficit expected in the current 2023/2024 season.

“The availability of cocoa from West Africa remains restricted and projections for another production deficit against demand for the coming year are increasing,” said a US-based broker.

Top cocoa grower Ivory Coast’s market regulator warned exporters on Tuesday against paying above the mandated price for beans delivered to their facilities at the country’s ports, threatening offenders with fines and the loss of their licenses.

May London cocoa rose 5.7% to £5,829 per ton after setting a record high of £5,861.

COFFEE: May robusta coffee settled up $28 or 0.9% to $3,307 a ton.

Dealers said supplies in top robusta producer Vietnam remained tight and there had been strong buying interest in supplies from Brazil where the conillon (robusta) harvest is due to start next month.

Agricultural prices’ researcher Cepea-Esalq said prices for robusta beans in Brazil were very close to those for arabica beans, and at the highest since it started tracking that data.

May arabica coffee rose 0.5% to $1.859 per pound (lb).

Arabica stocks at ICE continued their climb on Tuesday, rising to over 450,000 bags, the highest level since October. There are more than 180,000 bags pending grading.

SUGAR: May raw sugar settled down 0.06 cent or 0.3% at 21.89 cents per lb.

Dealers said there continued to be concerns that dry conditions will reduce the size of the cane crop in the Centre-South Brazil region during the upcoming 2024/2025 season.

May white sugar fell 0.2% to $615.70 a ton. —