LONDON: Cocoa futures slid to two-year lows on Friday as very weak demand led to a build-up in stocks in producing countries, while robusta coffee prices climbed to a six-week peak.
COCOA
New York cocoa lost 6.9 percent to USD4,162 a metric ton at 1238 GMT, having hit a two-year low of USD4,056. Dealers said stocks were building up due to the lack of demand for cocoa, particularly in top producer Ivory Coast.
The European cocoa grind in the fourth quarter of 2025, which was reported last week, was the lowest for the period in 21 years, while Barry Callebaut, the world’s top chocolate maker, reported a drop in sales this week.
Commerzbank said in a note that many confectionery makers had responded to the sharp rise in prices in 2024 by reducing the cocoa content in their products, which in turn had curtailed demand for cocoa.
“It is therefore likely to take some time before demand for cocoa picks up and cocoa prices recover,” the bank said. London cocoa slid 7.8percent to 2,961 pounds a ton after setting a two-year low of 2,920 pounds.
COFFEE
Robusta coffee gained 2 percent to USD4,109 a ton after setting a six-week high of USD4,118. Dealers said farmers in top robusta producer Vietnam were holding onto supplies, unwilling to sell for domestic prices which are below those of a year ago, and the normal pick-up in sales ahead of next month’s Tet Lunar New Year celebrations has therefore yet to materialise.
Arabica coffee rose 1.6percent to USD3.5335 per lb.
SUGAR
Raw sugar fell 0.8percent to 14.84 cents per lb.
Brazilian sugarcane growers’ association Orplana is seeing farmers cut back on investing in the crop due to low sugar prices and high costs of production, the group’s CEO Jose Guilherme Nogueira said in an interview on Thursday. White sugar lost 0.9percent to USD421.90 a ton.
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