Market Review :US Arabica coffee $ cocoa hit new high

NEW YORK, Feb 18 (Reuters) - U.S. arabica coffee futures hit their highest level in nearly 14 years on Friday, as high quality beans remained in short supply, while cocoa cracked a one-year peak and raw sugar fell further away from a 30-year high.
* Cocoa futures for March rose $11 to $3,493 a tonne in volume of 12 lots, trading in a range of $3,468 to $3,506. May rose $26 to $3,464 a tonne.
* Arabica coffee futures for March fell 0.30 cent to $2.6705 a lb in volume of 177 lots, trading in a range of $2.6670 to $2.6840. May fell 0.65 cent to $2.6820 a lb.

MARKET NEWS
* Arabica coffee futures climbed to their highest level in nearly 14 years on Friday, and robusta coffee hit a new 2-1/2-year peak as roasters were forced to pay up as high quality beans remained in short supply. [SOF/L]
* ICE cocoa futures pierced a new one-year barrier on fears a possible nationalization of Ivory Coast banks could further strangle the cocoa trade in the top producer.

FUNDAMENTALS
* Coffee exports from Central America, Mexico, Colombia, Peru and the Dominican Republic rose 28.7 percent year-on-year in January, the fourth straight month of increases from the group of washed arabica producers.
* Colombian truckers agreed to halt a two-week strike on Friday after raching a deal with the government in the world's No. 3 coffee exporter, the country's vice president said, after predictions the strike could hit coffee prices if it lasted more than three weeks. [ID:nN18205244]
* Ivory Coast's incumbent leader Laurent Gbagbo decreed on Thursday that major banks suspending business in Ivory Coast are to be nationalised, the latest turn in a bitter struggle for political control of the West African state.
* The Ivory Coast units of Societe Generale and BNP Paribas will be opened on Monday as nationalised banks, the government of incumbent leader Laurent Gbabo said on Friday.
* Pan-African bank Ecobank has suspended its operations in Ivory Coast, a company official said on Friday. * Cocoa arrivals at ports in Ivory Coast reached a total of 953,601 tonnes by Feb. 13, up 14 percent from the same period last year, according to data from the Coffee and Cocoa Bourse (BCC) obtained by Reuters on
ECONOMIC DATA
* Germany's Federal Statistics office reported its January Producer Price Index rose 1.2 percent from December and 5.7 percent year to year, the strongest YTY increase in since October 2008. PPI ex-energy rose 0.6 percent in Jan.

OUTSIDE MARKETS
* World shares fell back from fresh 30-month highs against a background of rising oil prices and a new attempt overnight by China to curb inflation pressures by raising reserves that lenders are required to hold by another 50 basis points.
* The euro slipped broadly on the view that euro zone debt problems will persist and as uncertainty about the cause of a spike in emergency borrowing from the European Central Bank added to market jitters.
* Oil prices moved lower after China increased lenders' reserve rates, although worries about tensions in the Middle East and North Africa lent support.
* Gold hit five-week highs in Europe and silver rose to its loftiest since 1980 as the Middle East unrest bolstered safe-haven interest in precious metals, though the tightening of lender reserves by China curbed gains.
Source:
(Reporting by Chris Kelly; Editing by John Picinich) ((chris.kelly@thomsonreuters.com; +1 646 223 6042; Reuters Messaging: chris.kelly.reuters.com@reuters.net))