Cocoa rose to the highest level this week in New York on speculation exports from Ivory Coast, the world’s largest producer, may take time to resume after fighting ends. Coffee fell.
Alassane Ouattara, the internationally recognized winner of a disputed Nov. 28 presidential election, was on the verge of winning the military battle to control Ivory Coast. A “few days or weeks” will be needed for cocoa to start flowing after political stability is reached in the country, the International Cocoa Organization said, citing logistical issues.
“There are questions about when Ivory Coast will be able to export and the quality of the beans,” Connor Noonan, an analyst at Castlestone Management in London, said by e-mail today. “A lot of the people who have sold over the past few weeks anticipating Gbagbo’s regime would fall are now buying back to lock in profits.”
Cocoa for July delivery rose $23, or 0.8 percent, to $3,016 a metric ton at 7:09 a.m. on ICE Futures U.S. in New York. The price climbed as much as 1 percent to $3,023 a ton, the highest this week. Cocoa for July delivery advanced 4 pounds, or 0.2 percent, at 1,915 pounds ($3,124) a ton on NYSE Liffe in London.
Incumbent leader Laurent Gbagbo, who refused to cede power to Ouattara, began negotiating an exit after French and United Nations forces destroyed most of his army’s heavy weapons. Cocoa supplies from the West African nation have been disrupted since Ouattara ordered an export ban in January to starve Gbagbo of funding.
Tax Collection
“After the political situation reaches stability, they will need a few days or weeks before cocoa starts flowing because of logistical issues,” Laurent Pipitone, director of the economics and statistics division at the ICCO, said by phone from London yesterday. “They will need to restore a tax- collection system,” he said.
Arabica coffee for May delivery fell 1 cent, or 0.4 percent, to $2.6725 a pound in New York. Robusta coffee for July delivery dropped $21, or 0.9 percent, to $2,377 a ton in London.
Raw sugar for July delivery climbed 0.2 percent, to 25.68 cents a pound on ICE. White, or refined, sugar for May delivery was little changed at $722 a ton on NYSE Liffe.
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