Cocoa Futures Hit Record Highs on Supply Concerns, Sugar Also Up

London and New York cocoa futures on ICE rose sharply again on Monday to fresh record highs as crop woes in both Ivory Coast and Ghana, the world’s top two producers, left buyers scrambling for supplies.

Cocoa

* May London cocoa LCCc2 settled up 210 pounds, or 3.9%, to 5,558 pounds per metric ton, after hitting a record of 5,605 pounds.

* Dealers said the outlook for already poor crops in Ivory Coast and Ghana appeared to be deteriorating further and some now believe the global deficit in the current 2023/24 season could be around 500,000 metric tons.

* “The ongoing seasonal intense Harmattan winds in West Africa are exacerbating the bullish prices situation,” the International Cocoa Organization said in a report on Monday.

* Dry weather and high temperatures continued last week in most of Ivory Coast’s cocoa-growing regions, raising concerns for the size and quality of the April-to-September mid-crop, farmers said on Monday.

* May New York cocoa CCc2 rose 4.8% to $6,557 a ton after setting a record high of $6,648 a ton.

Sugar

* March raw sugar SBc1settled up 0.53 cent, or 2.3%, at 23.15 cents per lb.

* Dealers said there was concern that lower rainfall in the key Centre-South region of Brazil would lead to a decline in production in the upcoming 2024/25 season.

* “The situation in CS Brazil presents a stark contrast with the previous crop year. Compared to last year, when December/January/February rains were approximately 25% above average, this year they are about 30% lower during the same period,” trade house Sucden said in a report issued on Monday.

* Sucden forecast 2024/25 CS Brazil sugar output would total 40.8 million tons, a year-on-year decrease of 1.8 million tons.

* French sugar producer Tereos expects Brazil’s CS new sugarcane crop at under 600 million tons compared to 660 million tons in 2023/24.

* May white sugar <LSUc1> rose 2% at $624.50 a ton.

Coffee

* May arabica coffee KCc2settled down 0.7 cent, or 0.4%, at $1.796 per lb.

* Dealers said export flow out of top grower Brazil continues to be in the high side, showing that the country had more stocks than some expected. One broker estimated exports at around 3.5 million bags for both March and April.