Price differentials in Europe's cash cocoa market were little changed this week even though trading was volatile, as fund buying spurred demand and limited losses caused by economic uncertainty, traders said. Ivory Coast differentials were about 75 pounds over London nearby cocoa futures contracts, the same as last week. Ghana differentials were 105 pounds over London nearby cocoa futures, compared with 100 pounds last week.
"Volumes were low on Thursday and on Friday due to the Thanksgiving holiday in the United States," one trader said. "At the beginning of the week we saw some buying as funds were short-covering. There was not much industry buying." Cocoa futures have dropped more than 10 percent in the past two weeks as a second consecutive bumper cocoa crop from West Africa weighed on the market, taking the London market to the lowest in three years and the New York market to the lowest in 2-1/2 years.
Cocoa arrivals at ports in Ivory Coast reached around 235,000 tonnes by November 20, exporters estimated on Monday, some 30 percent lower than at the same period of the previous season as farmers held on to their beans in the hope of higher prices. Another trader said that abundant supplies and gloomy economic prospects could push prices down even further.
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