On last Monday, cocoa futures climbed to the highest level since 1985 in London, boosted by speculation that supplies from the world's leading producer Ivory Coast may start to dwindle soon as disease is affecting yields there.

London's March cocoa rose about one per cent, to a peak of £2,249 a tonne. It was similar in New York where the benchmark March cocoa contract crept up $2 to finish at $3,378 per tonne, according to the International Cocoa Organisation (ICCO).

Cocoa production in ...