London cocoa steadies as bad news seen priced in; coffee slips

LONDON: London cocoa prices on ICE steadied on Friday as the market attempts to find a floor following recent sharp falls to near two-year lows, while arabica coffee slipped.

COCOA

September London cocoa rose 15 pounds, or 1pc, to 1,570 pounds per tonne at 1133 GMT, having hit its lowest in nearly 2 years last week.

"Cocoa prices are close to finding a bottom as they are approaching a key long term support level. (Second quarter) cocoa grindings, (a proxy for demand), came in weak, but this has most likely been priced in," said Fitch Solutions in a note.

Chocolate maker Hershey expects sales to accelerate in the months ahead, after falling 3.4pc in the quarter ended June 28, hit by a drop in demand.

September New York cocoa rose $32, or 1.5pc, to $2,233 a tonne.

COFFEE

September arabica coffee fell 0.1 cents, or 0.1pc, to $1.1020 per lb??, having hit a two-month top of $1.1030? in the previous session.

Boosting arabica, stocks of the bean held in ICE warehouses have fallen below 1.6 million 60kg bags, their lowest in nearly three years.

"Given the ongoing record harvest in Brazil and lower out-of-home consumption because of the corona pandemic, it is doubtful whether the (ICE) inventory reduction and (recent coffee) price rise will prove lasting," said Commerzbank in a note.

September robusta coffee rose $7, or 0.5pc, to $1,357 a tonne, having hit its highest since late January on Thursday.

SUGAR

October raw sugar fell 0.2 cents, or 1.5pc, to 11.59 cents per lb? as global equities and oil prices slid.

Russia's third sugar beet test since the start of the year showed the average root weight fell to 219 grams from 261 grams last July, but the sugar content rose to 13.46pc from 13.33pc.

October white sugar fell $3.80, or 1.1pc, to $353.30 a tonne.