Cocoa climbs, supported by strong demand signals; sugar slips

NEW YORK/LONDON: New York cocoa futures on ICE edged up on Monday in their third consecutive positive finish, buoyed by signals of strong global demand, while sugar prices slipped.

COCOA

* September New York cocoa settled up $65, or 2.6%, at $2,532 per tonne, after hitting a nearly two-week high of $2,538.

* September London cocoa settled up 30 pounds, or 1.6%, at 1,866 pounds per tonne.

* "There's a good demand story. As long as we have that demand story, cocoa is going to be well-supported," said one US trader.

* Last week, second-quarter cocoa grindings, an indicator of demand, came in above expectations in North America and Asia, more than counterbalancing weak numbers from Europe.

* Arrivals of cocoa at ports in top-grower Ivory Coast are slowing down, though still above last year's levels, which is also supporting prices, dealers said.

* Cocoa arrivals in Ivory Coast reached 2.111 million tonnes this season for the period from Oct. 1 to July 21, exporters estimated on Monday, up about 9% year on year.

* Rains were below average last week in most of Ivory Coast's cocoa-growing regions and more sun was needed for the October-to-March main crop to develop well, farmers said on Monday.

SUGAR

* October raw sugar settled down 0.03 cent, or 0.3%, at 11.56 cents per lb.

* "There's nothing fundamentally bullish in sugar with the big delivery of raws and the big delivery in whites" and the presence of sugar from Thailand in both, one US trader said.

* The presence of Thai sugar, which usually trades at a premium to futures, was seen as suggesting weak Asian demand, dealers said.

* The front-month sugar contract plunged nearly 5.8% last week in its worst weekly performance in 1-1/2 years.

* The monthly contract was hovering near technically oversold levels on the relative strength index.

* October white sugar settled down 60 cents, or 0.2%, at $315.10 per tonne.

* The European Union crop monitor cut its 2019 sugar beet yield to 73.9 tonnes per hectare, from last month's estimate of 75.7.

COFFEE

* September arabica coffee settled down 2.2 cent, or 2.1%, at $1.051 per lb, as concerns about cold weather in top-grower Brazil continued to fade.

* After shipping a record 41.1 million bags in the 2018/19 crop year, Brazil has started 2019/20 at the same rate, said Marex Spectron in a note. The country will export 3.3 million bags in July, it said.

* September robusta coffee settled down $26, or 1.8%, at $1,393 per tonne.