Cocoa may rise
LONDON - Cocoa in New York may average $4,000 a ton in the fourth quarter, according to Standard Chartered Plc, which raised its forecast for the three-month period by 18 percent from $3,400.
"We see good value in longer-dated contracts, particularly the September 2011 and December 2011 cocoa contracts, which coincide with seasonally high demand ahead of Christmas sales," analysts Abah Ofon, Koun-Ken Lee and Michael Haigh wrote on Tuesday. For the full year, the forecast was raised to $3,725, compared with $3,575 previously, the analysts wrote.
Cocoa for May climbed 1.5 percent to settle at $3,695 a ton on Monday on ICE Futures US in New York after touching $3,704, the highest price in 32 years. The price of the most-active contract has gained 29 percent over the past year.
Bloomberg News
(China Daily 03/02/2011 page16)
