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.
In London, Life's benchmark May cocoa contract settled at 878 pounds a tonne, up 7 pounds.
Market players await word from Ivory Coast farmers about a potential strike next week.
A farmer' union spokesman said on Wednesday farmers were threatening an indefinite strike from next week if the government does not meet their demand that it finance co-operatives' bean purchases.
The same unions went on a weeklong strike at the end of October for similar reasons. They returned to work only after they received guarantees that they would get some funds. "Maybe the strike will happen.
But it really has to disrupt the flow, but at this point I'm not putting too much faith in it," said a hedge trader. Other traders echoed the same sentiment. "It's very difficult for any cocoa farmer to withhold cocoa too, because they don't have the facilities in the equatorial climate to store it properly," said a trader.