London cocoa slips to 1-1/2 year low, sugar falls

Cocoa futures in London fell to a 1-1/2 year low on Wednesday as options-related selling hastened a decline linked to an increasing flow of supplies out of West Africa. Dealers said some of the selling in London cocoa was linked to the expiry of December options at 1200 GMT on Wednesday. "The market looks a little bit defensive. It is doing a little bit of work in the clear up of Dec," one dealer said.
March London cocoa was down 23 pounds or 1.2 percent at 1,945 pounds a tonne at 1513 GMT after touching a low of 1,942 pounds, its weakest since April 2015. December London cocoa was down 39 pounds or 2.0 percent at 1,954 pounds with its premium to March falling to around 8 pounds from 26 pounds on Tuesday.
Dealers said a pick-up in the pace of port arrivals in top grower Ivory Coast had helped to lessen concern about short-term supply tightness. Exporters estimated that 83,000 tonnes of beans were delivered to ports in Ivory Coast between November 21 and 27, up from 43,000 tonnes in the same period last season.
Dealers said there was light scale-down industry buying. "Market action has been relatively weak, they (industry) are not falling over themselves to buy this market. They're telling themselves. Do we have to buy now, when we can buy tomorrow and get it for cheaper," one dealer said. March New York cocoa was down $40 or 1.7 percent at $2,375 a tonne. The second month had touched a low of $2,358 on November 17, its weakest since August 2013.
Raw sugar futures fell to a 3-1/2 month low as funds continued to scale back long positions and price charts began to look increasingly bearish. March raw sugar was off 0.1 cents, or 0.5 percent, at 19.56 cents per lb after dipping to a low of 19.51 cents, its weakest since August 12. Major support was seen around 19 cents. "A close below 19 cents and it seems December will be long, dark and miserable for the sugar bulls," said Tom Kujawa, co-head of the softs department at Sucden Financial.
March white sugar was off $2.80 or 0.5 percent at $522.40 per tonne. Coffee prices were also lower, weighed partly by a stronger dollar. March arabica was off 1.65 cents or 1.1 percent at $1.5140 per lb and January robusta fell $6 or 0.3 percent at $2,040 a tonne.