Cocoa futures were sharply higher on Monday boosted partly by a slowdown in port arrivals in top grower Ivory Coast, while raw sugar and coffee prices also rose.
COCOA
* London cocoa rose 6.7% to 4,498 pounds a metric ton by 1447 GMT.
* Exporters estimated port arrivals in top grower Ivory Coast totalled 60,000 tons between Dec. 22 and Dec. 28, down from 82,000 tons in the same week of the previous season.
* They noted the market would be keeping a close watch on crop progress in the first quarter of 2026 with some expecting a continued decline in port arrivals during the period.
* Demand, however, remains weak which could limit the scope of the market's recovery with prices still on track to fall around 51% this year.
* Ivory Coast's cocoa grind fell 6.7% year-on-year in November to 56,696 metric tons of beans, data from exporters' association GEPEX showed on Friday.
* New York cocoa gained 6.2% to $6,321 a ton.
SUGAR
* Raw sugar SBc1 was up 0.5% at 15.25 cents per lb.
* Dealers said speculators had scaled back a net short position during the run-up in prices from a five-year low of 14.04 cents in early November, but the scope for further gains may be limited by ample supplies with a global surplus expected in the 2025/26 season (October/September).
* Sugarcane crushing in Brazil's North and Northeast regions reached 32.5 million metric tons through November 30, a 9.4% drop versus the year-earlier period, industry group NovaBio said on Friday.
* White sugar fell 0.6% to $432.70 a ton.
COFFEE
* Robusta coffee gained 1.1% to $3,899 a ton.
* Dealers said the weather has been generally favourable for harvesting and drying of beans in top robusta producer Vietnam although farmers remain reluctant to sell given the current low level of prices.
* Arabica coffee rose 0.7% to $3.5250 per lb.
(Reuters)
