Cocoa steadies near 1-year high amid confusion over Ghana, Ivory Coast pricing

LONDON: Cocoa prices on ICE steadied on Wednesday as dealers awaited clarity on how top producers Ivory Coast and Ghana will price their beans going forward, while coffee and sugar were little changed.

COCOA

* September London cocoa was up 9 pounds, or 0.5%, to 1,906 pounds a tonne at 1105 GMT, having touched a one-year high of 1,939 pounds on Monday.

* In a major market shake-up, Ivory Coast and Ghana, which  produce some 60% of the world's cocoa, plan to introduce a new pricing system for their beans in a bid to bolster the market and address farmer poverty.

* "Obviously this plan has got the market somewhat spooked, but I'm suspicious. The ramifications of the plan are very unclear. As things stand all I can see is a not unreasonable crop," said a dealer.

* Cocoa arrivals at ports in Ivory Coast reached 2.061 mln tonnes between Oct. 1 and June 30, up about 10% from the same period last season.

* In an indication of strong demand, however, Ivory Coast cocoa grinders had processed 407,000 tonnes of beans by the end of June, up from 379,000 tonnes during same period last season.

* September New York cocoa rose $16, or 0.6%, to $2,538 a tonne.

* New York cocoa may seek a support at $2,496 per tonne and then resume its rally, technical signals suggest.

COFFEE

* September arabica coffee was down 0.1 cents, or 0.1%, at $1.0735 per lb. The market touched a seven-month peak of $1.1565 on Friday on fears over frost in top producer Brazil.

* Brazil's Cooxupe will release a report later today with its initial evaluation of the weekend frosts.

* "At present there appears to have been only a small number of isolated incidents of frost, with a significant impact in next year's output deemed unlikely. There is no longer a risk of frost in the current forecast," said Rabobank in a note.

* September robusta coffee rose $1, or 0.1%, to $1,437 a tonne.

SUGAR

* October raw sugar was down 0.01 cents, or 0.1%, at 12.34 cents per lb.

* Damage to cane from weekend frosts in Brazil looks likely to be minor although dealers expect a clearer assessment towards the end of this week.

* August white sugar rose $1.40, or 0.4%, to $320.70 a tonne.