Liffe cocoa soars

Liffe July cocoa closed 14 pounds higher at 1,960 pounds a tonne as first quarter European cocoa grindings rose 3.5 percent, at the higher end of expectations. Liffe May white sugar rose $5.80 to close at $697.20 a tonne. Prices were mixed as improved Thai crop prospects weighed.
Liffe July robusta coffee ended $31 lower at $2,469 a tonne, as London failed to keep pace with the strength in New York arbicas, where a shortage of high quality beans supported higher prices. In the cocoa market, buoyant European grind data provided support. The first-quarter grind rose 3.5 percent, at the upper end of expectations,
The increase did not necessary reflect a rise in demand, however, as grinding capacity utilisation in Europe was forecast to have increased due to a lack of activity in Ivory Coast after a power struggle. "Short term, it's definitely positive but if you put it into context we've basically got grindings unchanged for October-March against the previous year," an analyst at a European commodities fund said.
"That story of slow growth in Europe and very limited grind growth continues, and it's being offset in Ghana, Indonesia, Malaysia, and obviously Ivory Coast is still grinding a lot of cocoa when it's available," the analyst added. Abidjan port terminals are likely to resume loadings of cargo such as cocoa early next week, a senior official with shipping group Maersk said Thursday. Cocoa futures were bolstered by worries about possible disruptions to the mid-crop harvest in Ivory Coast even as exports were set to resume and the two main ports were expected to reopen this week after months of political turmoil.
Ivory Coast's cocoa industry has been at a standstill after a disputed presidential election in November led to European Union sanctions, a ban on cocoa exports and a crippled banking system. "The (cocoa) market is waiting for a 'for-sure' normalisation (of trade) before we see a downward correction," Keith Flury, a soft commodities analyst with Rabobank, told Reuters Insider. "The biggest concern for the sugar complex at present is the size of the Thai crop and the quantity of unsold raws and whites in-country," said one European soft commodities analyst.