Cocoa Futures Rise Sharply

Cocoa futures rose sharply Tuesday following a steep sell off last week that lured buyers to the market.

Cocoa for July rose 5.3% to $2,012 a ton on the ICE Futures U.S. exchange.

Traders said short-positioned traders bought futures to cover their bets as prices began to rise.

Shipments of bean in Ivory Coast, the world's largest growing region, have been up 22% year-on-year since the season started in October, according to Commerzbank, but may decline during the wet season, which still has several weeks to go.

"Farmers are praying for sufficient sunshine to ensure that the current mid-crop is as good as hoped," the firm said.

Data released earlier in the day by ICE and Rabobank showed that traders in both London and New York were raising long positions on cocoa. Today's move is a continuation of a rally which started Friday after sell-offs earlier in the week.

Managed money raised its bets for the third consecutive week that London cocoa prices will continue to rise, according to market data released by ICE. In the week to May 23, the net-short position decreased by 95%.

In other markets, raw sugar for July lost 0.9% to 14.92 cents a pound, arabica coffee for July was up 1.1% at $1.3275 a pound, frozen concentrated orange juice for July lost 1.6% to $1.3645 a pound and July cotton rose 0.4% to 77.38 cents a pound.

Write to Julie Wernau at julie.wernau@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 30, 2017 12:13 ET (16:13 GMT)