The New York Board of Trade's front month December delivery ended at $1,341 a tonne, up $7, after trading from $1,334 to $1,344. March cocoa gained $8 to conclude at $1,372, and back month contracts finished up $8 to $10.
Traders estimated total futures turnover at about 17,000 lots, down from the previous session's official tally of 26,016 contracts. "Everybody is rolling the December into the March," said a trader, adding that outright activity was only about 20 percent of the volume, with contract switches composing the rest.
Non-commercial players have been rolling their positions out of the December contract ahead of its first notice day for delivery next on Tuesday.
By November 8, the December contract had 32,237 lots of open interest, down 8,950 lots from the previous day. Open interest in March rose 3,256 lots to 50,326 during the same period.
Cocoa futures have been under pressure in recent days because of a buoyant dollar coupled with prospects of ample supply from 2005/06 harvests.
On Tuesday, the December delivery hit a floor of $1,319, the weakest price for a front-month contract since August 17. In No 1 cocoa producer Ivory Coast, bean arrivals to ports from the new main crop have been well above the previous season, but the pace has recently slowed due to receding farmgate prices.
Ivory Coast exporters on Wednesday estimated bean arrivals amounted to 220,000 to 230,000 tonnes from October 1 to November 6. Meanwhile, Brazil's 2005/06 (May/April) cocoa arrival from Bahia and other states totalled 2.59 million 60-kg bags by November 6, up 27 percent from a year ago, the Bahia Commercial Association said.
Brazil ranks as fifth in terms of world output. In London, the Life's benchmark December cocoa delivery settled at 806 pounds a tonne, up 0.4 percent.