Cocoa Futures Rise in N.Y. on Supply Shortfall; Coffee Gains

Cocoa rose for the first time in three days on speculation that output will trail demand after exports fell from Cameroon, the fifth-biggest producer of the beans. Coffee gained for a second session.

Cocoa shipments from Cameroon dropped 35 percent in March, the Cocoa and Coffee Interprofessional Council said yesterday. World output will lag behind demand in the 2009-2010 season, Fortis Bank Nederland NV and VM Group said last week. Grindings, an indication of demand, will advance 3.3 percent from a year earlier, they said. Cocoa gained 30 percent in the past year.

“The fundamentals are strong,” said Tom Mikulski, a senior market strategist at Lind-Waldock, a broker in Chicago. “There is a lot of fund-buying.”

Cocoa for July delivery gained $18, or 0.6 percent, to $3,211 a metric ton on ICE Futures U.S. in New York. The commodity should rise to $3,250, Mikulski said, without giving a timeframe.

In the week ended April 20, hedge-fund managers and other large speculators increased their net-long position in New York cocoa futures by 15 percent from a week earlier, government data.

On London’s Liffe exchange, cocoa for July delivery rose 13 pounds, or 0.5 percent, to 2,396 pounds ($3,670) a ton.

In another ICE market, arabica-coffee futures for July delivery rose 0.7 cent, or 0.5 percent to $1.346 a pound in New York. Yesterday, the price gained 2.3 percent.

Debarati Roy
Source: Bloomberg