LONDON: Cocoa futures on ICE stumbled on Friday as abundant global supplies and speculative selling kept the market on the defensive.
London-based cocoa, robusta coffee and white sugar contracts are now closed until Dec. 27.
New York-based cocoa, arabica coffee and raw sugar are trading normal hours on Friday and will then be closed until Dec. 26, when there is a late opening.
COCOA
March New York cocoa was down $40, or 2.1 percent, at $1,867 a tonne by 1519 GMT.
March London cocoa closed down 28 pounds, or 2 percent, at 1,379 pounds a tonne after an abbreviated trading session, having hit a contract low of 1,376 pounds.
Focus was on ample global supplies partly due to higher-than-expected arrivals at ports in Ivory Coast this season.
"All the news I hear is bearish," a dealer said, adding crop conditions in top grower Ivory Coast appeared favourable.
"You are going to have another big (global) surplus (in 2017/18) on the tail of a huge surplus the previous year," the dealer added.
Persistent bearish sentiment from speculators also pressured prices, with dealers noting the weekly Commitment of Traders data, expected later on Friday, was likely to show an increase in their net short position.
SUGAR
March raw sugar slipped 0.05 cent, or 0.3 percent, to 14.72 cents per lb, after rallying sharply this week.
A bout of short-covering pushed prices to a peak of 14.82 cents on Thursday, the highest for the front month since Dec. 6.
Gains were capped, however, with dealers pointing to selling by Brazilian producers lured by a weaker Brazilian currency.
"The producers have no doubt also taken advantage and we suspect selling will get heavier if we break 15 cents," Nick Penney, senior trader at Sucden Financial, said in a note.
Speculative activity remained in focus, as funds have recently sold the commodity more aggressively than expected.
March white sugar closed $1.40, or 0.4 percent, lower at $385.50 a tonne.
COFFEE
March arabica coffee was down 1.65 cents, or 1.3 percent, at $1.2290 per lb.
Uganda's November coffee exports rose 8.6 percent year-on-year, the Uganda Coffee Development Authority said in a report.
March robusta coffee closed up $7, or 0.4 percent, at $1,712 a tonne.
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