New York cocoa slips, raw sugar hovering near 13-month lows

LONDON: New York cocoa futures on ICE eased on Thursday, under pressure from a firmer dollar and speculators rolling forward their positions, while ample global supplies added to the bearish mood.

COCOA

July New York cocoa was down $24, or 1.2 percent, at $2,024 a tonne by 1153 GMT after dipping to $2,011.

Dealers noted New York was under pressure from a firmer dollar, although low traded volumes exaggerated the move.

They also pointed to speculators rolling forward their July positions.

"There is still very big open interest against the July contract in New York that needs to be rolled by mid-June," one dealer said. "There's a lot of shorts in there from the system funds and the managed money."

The market was also monitoring an options expiry in New York on Friday, which was seen as potentially keeping prices in a narrow range.

July London cocoa slipped 12 pounds ($15.43), or 0.8 percent, to 1,571 pounds a tonne, in tandem with New York.

The International Cocoa Organization (ICCO) on Wednesday lifted its forecast for a global cocoa surplus in the current 2016/17 season to 382,000 tonnes from 264,000 tonnes.

While this halted the momentum that drove the market's biggest-one day advance since 2012 earlier this week, dealers said a large surplus has already been largely priced in.

Dealers also said recent news that top grower Ivory Coast had sold forward more cocoa than initially expected was also taking some of the pressure off the market.

It sold forward about 940,000 tonnes of its 2017/18 production by May 26 and aims to auction a total of 1.2 million tonnes by the end of September.

SUGAR

July raw sugar were unchanged at 14.87 cents per lb, steadying above a 13-month low of 14.73 cents set this week.

The International Sugar Organization said on Thursday it expects a global sugar surplus of about 3 million tonnes in 2017/18.

August white sugar fell by $1.40, or 0.32 percent, to $433.40 a tonne.

COFFEE

July robusta coffee rose $2, or 0.1 percent, at $2,014 a tonne.

Vietnam, the world's top robusta producer, is expected to export 90,000 tonnes to 120,000 tonnes (1.5 million to 2 million 60-kg bags) of coffee in June, traders said on Thursday.

July arabica fell 0.10 cent, or 0.1 percent, to $1.2925 per lb.