coffee prices today - Cocoa, Robusta coffee hits 2-1/2 year high

coffee prices today - Cocoa, Robusta coffee hits 2-1/2 year high : Robusta coffee futures climbed toa fresh 2-1/2 year high on Monday as the market retained itsstrong upward momentum, dealers said. Cocoa futures on Liffe rose to 7-month high as the market eyed the deepening crisis in top grower Ivory Coast. White sugar eased slightly as physical demand remained slow following the recent run-up in prices.

ICE markets were shut on Monday for U.S. Presidents' Day.

"There's a lot of positive sentiment towards the coffee market," Andrea Thompson, analyst at CoffeeNetwork said, noting consumption growth was pushing the robusta market into deficit.

May robusta coffee LRCc2 stood $33 or 1.4 percent higher at $2,370 a tonne at 1256 GMT. It had earlier peaked at $2,372, the highest level for the second month since July 2008.

The advance in coffee has been led by ICE arabica futures KCc2 which gained 7.1 percent last week and rose to thehighest levels since May 1997, boosted by tight supplies following several below-par harvests in key producer Colombia.

High arabica prices have encouraged roasters to increase the volume of cheaper robusta beans in blends where possible.

"2010-11 should have been the third consecutive global surplus for robusta but it's now looking at a deficit. The Vietnam crop is fairly stable, it's really more the consumption growth (driving the deficit)," Thompson said.

Vietnam is the world's top producer of robusta coffee.

Brazil, the world's biggest coffee producer, is holding back its big bean stocks and hoping for improved market conditions in a wager that world prices will keep on rising, its top coffee official said on Friday For the latest updates PRESS CTR + D or visit Stock Market news Today

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