London cocoa hits near three month low; sugar, coffee gain

LONDON: London cocoa futures on ICE hit their lowest price in nearly three months on Monday as speculators continued to liquidate their long positions amid ample cocoa supply.

Sugar and coffee gained meanwhile.

Cocoa

March London cocoa fell 0.8% to 1,705 pounds per tonne at 1156 GMT - its weakest since early August.

March New York cocoa fell 0.9% to $2,520 a tonne.

ICE speculators increased their net short position in New York cocoa by 1,859 contracts to 12,531 in the week ended Oct. 26, data showed.

Dealers said cocoa is under pressure from generally favourable crop conditions in top producer Ivory Coast, as well as a weaker-than-expected demand recovery.

Weather forecasters Climate42 noted a massive wave of flowering and setting of cocoa pods in No. 2 producer Ghana, adding climate conditions are pointing to a good start for the mid-crop.

Robusta coffee prices edge up, sugar and cocoa fall

Coffee

January robusta coffee rose 1.4% to $2,244 a tonne, having hit a 4-1/2 year high of $2,278 last week.

Indonesia's exports of Sumatra robusta in October totalled 12,349.62 tonnes, down 51.5% from a year ago, data showed.

Robusta supplies are tightening thanks to shipping backlogs affecting top producer Vietnam and others.

December arabica coffee rose 0.4% to $2.0490 per lb amid ongoing uncertainty over the next Brazil crop.

Sugar

March raw sugar rose 1.3% to 19.51 cents per lb.

Higher energy prices in Brazil are boosting sugar, potentially increasing the amount of cane used to produce ethanol rather than sugar.

On the downside though, Brazil rains continue to improve the outlook for the next crop, while the Indian and Thai harvests are progressing well.

Dealers noted sugar is struggling to breach 20 cents as funds are cutting their long position.

ICE speculators reduced their net long in raw sugar by 14,031 contracts in the week ended Oct. 26 to 112,117, the smallest since end-March.

December white sugar rose 1.1% to $514.60 a tonne.