London cocoa hits highest price in a century, coffee at 1-month high

London cocoa futures on ICE rose to the highest price in a century on Friday despite disappointing data on demand in North America, while both arabica and robusta coffees gained strongly in the week and hit 1-month highs.

COCOA

* March London cocoa C2! settled up 52 pounds, or 1.6%, to 3,225 pounds per metric ton, after setting a peak of 3,230 pounds, the highest price since futures started trading in 1920. The contract gained 6% in the week.

* Plants in North America processed 17.9% less cocoa in the third quarter versus a year ago, industry data showed. Brokers and analysts were expecting a fall of 8%-14%.

* Dealers said the negative data was offset by an outlook where industry cover is tight and a third successive supply deficit is widely expected this season.

* Also, cocoa demand in Europe, Ivory Coast and Brazil has held up well in the face of high prices, while the fall in Asian third-quarter demand was not as severe as expected.

* December New York cocoa CC1! rose $46, or 1.3%, to $3,694 a ton.

COFFEE

* January robusta coffee RC2! rose $77, or 3.2%, at $2,479 a ton, having hit a month-high of $2,520. It gained 9% in the week.

* Premiums for 5% black and broken-grade 2 robusta (COFVN-G25-SAI) in top robusta producer Vietnam remained high this week at $200-$400 a ton as supply from the new season will not be available until next month.

* December arabica coffee KC1! settled up 1.3 cent, or 0.8%, at $1.6525 per lb, having hit a month-high of $1.6680. The contract jumped 6.7% in the week after gaining 6% in the previous week.

* Exporters are reporting delays in coffee shipments from top producer Brazil due to the tight availability of trucks and containers. Meanwhile, ports are strained due to record volumes of soy, corn and sugar.

* Colombia, the world's top washed arabica supplier, will close this year with production of 11.6-12.0 million 60-kg (130-pound) bags, ending three years of output falls.

SUGAR

* March raw sugar SB1! fell 0.44 cents, or 1.6%, at 26.85 cents per lb. The contract ended the week at negative 0.7%.

* December white sugar SF1! fell $11.30, or 1.5%, at $726.50 a ton, and was flat for the week.