Cocoa Rebounds From 11-Week Low; Coffee Drops; Sugar Climbs

Cocoa rebounded from an 11-week low as violence persisted in Ivory Coast, the world’s largest producer. Coffee declined, and sugar rose.

Fighters loyal to Ivory Coast President-elect Alassane Ouattara have attacked the residence ofLaurent Gbagbo, who refused to step down after a November election. Prices jumped as much as 35 percent since the vote.

“Enough questions remain about Ivory Coast to prevent more aggressive selling,” said Sterling Smith, an analyst at Country Hedging in St. Paul, Minnesota. “Traders may be factoring in long-term concerns,” as the unrest could cause infrastructure- related delays for exports, he said.

Cocoa for May delivery jumped $59, or 2 percent, to settle at $3,011 a metric ton at 12:17 p.m. on ICE Futures U.S. in New York. Earlier, the price touched $2,925, the lowest for a most- active contract since Jan. 13. The commodity dropped 7.1 percent this week.

Estimated open interest, the aggregate number of contracts outstanding, was 168,846, the highest since March 2008.

Arabica-coffee futures for May delivery dropped 4.25 cents, or 1.6 percent, to $2.599 a pound in New York. The price climbed 9.8 percent in the first quarter, the ninth straight increase.

“People may be concerned that demand will diminish” after the rally, said Fain Shaffer, the president of Infinity Trading Corp., a commodity brokerage in Medford, Oregon. “We’ll have new supplies shortly, as we are going into the Brazil harvest next month.”

Raw-sugar futures for May delivery gained 0.33 cent, or 1.2 percent, to 27.44 cents a pound in New York.

On London’s NYSE Liffe, cocoa and refined sugar advanced, while robusta coffee slumped.

(Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-01/cocoa-rebounds-from-11-week-low-coffee-drops-sugar-climbs.html)