Cocoa futures rose to a 10-day high Thursday, fueled by a sliding dollar, tight supply and some market concerns about a potential disruption in deliveries from top grower Ivory Coast, traders said. "Dollar weakness definitely has helped New York in the last couple of days," said a trader. "Supplies in the states are still fairly tight, despite the fact that we've had a narrow arbitrage, which should attract cocoa to the states. We are still operating hand-to-mouth. As soon as cocoa comes in, it's effectively taken out by industry," the trader said.
At the New York Board of Trade, the most-active May cocoa contract climbed $31 to settle at $1,616 a tonne, the highest since February 2, when it closed at $1,622.
The front-month March contract likewise rallied $31 to $1,596 a tonne, and back months finished up $29 to $31. Final estimated volume in cocoa futures reached 6,298 lots, up from the official 6,059 contracts the previous session.
Copyright Reuters, 2005