Cocoa Climbs on Speculation Ivory Coast Crisis to Crimp Supply

Cocoa rose for a second day in New York on speculation supplies will be disrupted as fighting persists in the Ivory Coast, the world’s largest producer.

Escalating violence between supporters of incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo and Alassane Ouattara, the internationally recognized winner of the Nov. 28 elections, threatens to bring the West African country closer to civil war, the DPA news agency cited UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon as saying Feb. 25. Ouattara called for a month long ban on cocoa exports on Jan. 23 in a bid to cut off Gbagbo’s funds. The ban was extended last week until mid-March.

“It’s reaching a point that the likelihood of a civil war is pretty close,” Gary Mead, an analyst at VM Group said today by phone from London. “I think the price could go higher.”

Cocoa for May delivery climbed $31, or 0.9 percent, to $3,670 a ton at 7:20 a.m. on ICE Futures U.S. in New York. Cocoa for May delivery gained 7 pounds, or 0.3 percent, to 2,375 pounds ($3,855) a metric ton on NYSE Liffe in London.

Hedge-fund managers and other large speculators increased their net-long position in New York cocoa futures in the week ended Feb. 22, according to U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data.

Speculative long positions, or bets prices will rise, outnumbered short positions by 29,287 contracts on ICE Futures U.S., the Washington-based commission said in its Commitments of Traders report on Feb. 25. Net-long positions rose by 2,368 contracts, or 9 percent, from a week earlier.

Arabica coffee for May delivery rose 1.4 percent to $2.715 a pound in New York. Robusta coffee for May delivery rose $41, or 1.8 percent, to $2,380 a ton in London.

Coffee stockpiles in warehouses monitored by ICE dropped 0.1 percent to 1.59 million bags on Feb. 24, according to exchange figures.

Raw sugar for May delivery climbed 0.32 cent, or 1.1 percent, to 29.06 cents a pound on ICE. White, or refined, sugar for May delivery advanced $8.70, or 1.2 percent, to $735.10 a ton on NYSE Liffe.

(Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-02-28/cocoa-climbs-on-speculation-ivory-coast-crisis-to-crimp-supply.html)