LONDON: London cocoa prices on ICE hit 1-1/2 year lows on Friday as further signs emerged that the coronavirus pandemic has battered demand for the chocolate ingredient.

US markets were closed for the Independence Day holiday. September London cocoa ended down 31 pounds, or 1.9%, at 1,585 pounds per tonne?, having touched its lowest since December 2018 at 1,575. Indicating weakening demand, Ivory Coast's semi-finished cocoa products exports fell about 4.5% year-on-year from October to May, while its exports of raw cocoa beans fell 1%.

September robusta coffee closed down $3, or 0.3%, to $1,199 a tonne. Global coffee exports fell 14.6% in May from a year earlier to 10.49 million 60 kg bags, the International Coffee Organization (ICO) said in a monthly report. But the inter-governmental body added there were unusually high shipments in May last year. For the first eight months of the season, exports were down 4.7% to 83.805 million bags. August white sugar settled up $0.70, or 0.2%, to $351 a tonne.

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