CSCE cocoa futures closed lower Wednesday as a four-day run of speculative short-covering ended and producer selling resumed, largely ignoring an estimate showing a global supply deficit, brokers said.
"The ICCO number was in line with other trade estimates and not a real shocker. The short-covering rally ran out of gas and you saw some disappointed origin selling," said one commission house broker.
World consumption of cocoa is forecast to exceed production by 60,000 tonnes in the 2003/04 (October-September) season, reversing a 77,000-tonne surplus the prior year, the International Cocoa Organisation (ICCO) said on Wednesday.
The active May cocoa contract finished down $43 at $1,431 a tonne with a $1,418-$1,479 range.
July cocoa lost $41 to close at $1,440 and the back months all settled $42 lower. The May/July switch, or spread, settled at July $9 over May. Certified stocks of cocoa beans in warehouse of storage companies licensed by the exchange jumped to 1,644,669 60-kg bags on March 17 from 1,496,328 bags on March 16.
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