* Rebels capture town in western Ivory Coast
* Coffee market edges higher underpinned by tight supplies
* Sugar market eyes Monday's expiry of March raws on ICE
Cocoa futures on ICE rose to close at a 32-year high Friday as rebels seized a town in top grower Ivory Coast, while raw sugar rebounded ahead of the March contract's expiry Monday. Coffee prices rose after a two-day setback.
The United Nations Secretary General said Ivory Coast was closer to the brink of a new civil war after rebels controlling the north seized a town in government territory and were heading south.
"Of course the instability in the Ivory Coast is the main reason for the push up," said Derrick Lewis, a senior trader with brokerage Cleartrade Commodities in Chicago.
May cocoa on ICE rose $14 to finish at $3,639 per tonne, the highest settlement since January 1979, after touching a session high at $3,650. This widened the premium of May to $66 compared with July from $65 on Thursday.
The contract has risen about $600, or 28 percent, since early January as the crisis in Ivory Coast has deepened. Volume, however, was thin at about 8,500 lots, down about 60 percent from the 30-day average.
"Until the situation is settled, there's concern about supply," Lewis said, referring to the reason for the premium.
The sterling-based Liffe contract was also higher with May < closing up 18 pounds at 2,368 pounds a tonne, after hitting the highest for the second position since July 2010 at 2,377 pounds.
"Most of the people that we speak to are now leaving the country because it's too dangerous," a European trader said, adding the country's cocoa industry was at a standstill.
POSITI DIFFICULT ON
"The (cocoa) trade is in a difficult position, on the one side (presidential claimant Alassane) Ouattara wants them to continue to buy from the farmers because they need the money, on the other Gbagbo says keep exporting because he needs the money," plus there's EU sanctions in place, the trader said.
Raw sugar futures were higher with the market's focus on Monday's expiry of the March contract.
The nearby premium closed at 2.78 cents a lb, widening from 2.39 cents at the close on Thursday, with the decision by Russia earlier this week to cut import tariffs seen increasing the appetite to take delivery.
May raw sugar futures jumped 0.91 cent or 3 percent to finish at 28.74 cents per lb while May white sugar on Liffe rose $21.40 to finish at $726.40 per tonne.
Arabica coffee futures on ICE were higher as the market began to creep back up towards Tuesday's peaks which were the highest levels seen in 34 years at $2.7840 per lb, basis May.
The market suffered its weakest two-day performance in a month on Wednesday and Thursday with the setback seen largely as a technical correction after its prolonged advance and as investors got out of their long positions.
May arabica coffee rose 3.15 cents to finish at $2.6780 per lb, in an inside day. A shortage of high quality arabica coffee from Colombia, suffering from several consecutive smaller crops, has fueled the coffee rally and a drawdown of stocks.
"The funds are very heavily long so a bit of a wash out could be on the cards but I am not sure we will see a calamitous collapse as stocks remain so low," said a London-based broker.
May robusta coffee gained $10 to finish at $2,339 a tonne as dealers noted a pick-up in exports from top robusta producer Vietnam.
Vietnam's February coffee exports rose around 16.9 percent from the same month in 2010 to 90,000 tonnes, or 1.5 million bags, in line with market expectations, and could offer some relief to tight markets.
source: https://portal.hpd.global.reuters.com/site/applist.aspx
