Cocoa and coffee futures on ICE rallied on Monday, with the chocolate ingredient hitting a near-six-month high as soft commodities players re-priced El Nino risks.
COCOA
* London cocoa ICEEUR:C2! rose 7.8% to £4,054 a ton at 1221 GMT, having hit its highest since mid-January at £4,084.
* Dealers said the market is growing concerned again about the risks posed to crops from a strong El Nino, while there are rumours that the latest cocoa pod counts in Ivory Coast are looking as poor as ever, boding ill for 2026/27 output.
* The United Nations weather agency on Friday raised its forecast for the rapid emergence of a strong El Nino in the coming months, and warned it could further revise up its forecast to a very strong El Nino.
* El Nino tends to cause excess rains in top cocoa growing region West Africa, as well as in Ecuador. The West Africa rains are then typically followed by excessively dry, hot Harmattan winds that harm the crop.
* New York cocoa ICEUS:CC1! rose 7.9% to $5,435 a ton, having hit its highest since mid-January at $5,469.
COFFEE
* Arabica coffee ICEUS:KC1! rose 4.6% to $3.15 per lb, not far off last week's five-month high of $3.17.
* Robusta coffee ICEEUR:RC2! rose 4.7% to $3,889 a ton, not far off last week's five-month peak of $3,920.
* Prospects for top robusta grower Vietnam's 2026/27 crop are dimming because of hot, dry weather in Asia linked to El Nino.
* In top arabica grower Brazil, recent wet weather linked to El Nino slowed the harvest and raised concerns over crop quality.
* Brazil's 2026/27 coffee harvest reached 52% of the planted area as of July 1, below the 60% seen in the year-ago period, consultants Safras & Mercado said.
SUGAR
* Raw sugar ICEUS:SB1! rose 0.7% to 14.95 cents per lb, having gained 6% last week.
* White sugar ICEUS:SF1! fell 2% to $475.70 a ton after setting a 9-1/2-month high last Thursday.