Cocoa Jumps to 8-Month High on Ivorian Arrivals

(Businessweek) – Cocoa rose to the highest in more than eight months in New York after official data released by Ivory Coast showed bean deliveries in the world’s biggest producer were lower than forecast. Coffee declined.

Cocoa deliveries to Ivorian ports from farms amounted to 1.28 million metric tons from Oct. 1 to June 30, up from 1.26 million tons a year earlier, according to the country’s ministries of finance and agriculture. Bean arrivals for the period were estimated on July 2 at 1.34 million tons by KnowledgeCharts, a unit of Commodities Risk Analysis in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

“The arrivals figures released by Ivory Coast’s finance ministry yesterday were lower than the market expected and this is even more supportive of the market,” Jerome Jourquin, the head of agriculture derivatives at brokerage Aurel BGC in Paris, said by e-mail today. “Traders have a 1,748 pounds ($2,739) a ton target in mind now.”

Cocoa for delivery in December gained 0.6 percent to $2,527 a ton by 6 a.m. on ICE Futures U.S. in New York. The price touched $2,530 a ton, the highest since Dec. 3. Cocoa for the same delivery month climbed 0.4 percent to 1,665 pounds a ton on NYSE Liffe in London.

Money managers’ bullish bets on London cocoa reached a 10-month high. The net-long position, or bets on higher prices, totaled 49,567 futures and options as of Aug. 13, NYSE Liffe data showed yesterday. That’s the highest since Sept. 25 and compares with 46,601 contracts a week earlier.

Lindt & Spruengli AG (LISP), the world’s largest maker of premium chocolate, said its first-half net income surged 40 percent to 48.8 million Swiss francs ($53 million), exceeding the 44.3 million-franc average of five analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

Chocolate Consumption

“The global economy reported a slight improvement which had a positive impact on consumer sentiment in many countries,” Lindt, based in Kilchberg, Switzerland, said in an earnings statement today. “The cool and rainy weather experienced in many places in the first half also had a favorable impact on chocolate consumption.”

Raw sugar for delivery in October was unchanged at 16.53 cents a pound in New York. Refined, or white, sugar for the same delivery month retreated 0.5 percent to $489.20 a ton in London.

Arabica coffee for delivery in December fell 0.7 percent to $1.2195 a pound on ICE. Robusta coffee for delivery in November slid 0.7 percent to $1,863 a ton on NYSE Liffe.