Cocoa hits three-month low as raw sugar gains

LONDON: Cocoa futures on ICE fell to three-month lows on Monday as speculators sold long positions on signs of plentiful supply, while raw sugar hit its highest in nearly a month.

COCOA

March New York cocoa was little changed at $2,449 a tonne at 1454 GMT after touching its lowest since early August at $2,433. The contract fell 5.1% last week.

March London cocoa fell 0.5% to 1,663 pounds per tonne, having hit its lowest since late July at 1,653 pounds.

Cocoa arrivals at ports in top grower Ivory Coast reached 330,000 tonnes between Oct. 1 and Oct. 31, up 9.8% from the same period last year, data showed.

Ghana’s cocoa arrivals reached 10,951 tonnes between Oct.1 and Oct. 14, down from 14,168 tonnes in the same period of the previous season, data showed.

ICE New York cocoa speculators increased their net short position by 1,954 contracts to 14,485 in the week to Nov. 2, data showed.

SUGAR

March raw sugar rose 0.1% to 19.95 cents per lb after touching 20.10 cents, its highest in nearly a month. The price gained 3.4% last week.

Broker Marex Spectron said demand for sugar has returned, helped by the recent dip in prices and a reduction in freight rates.

“That was the missing ingredient and now means the market should be able to rely on steady consumer buying, while producer selling is uncertain because (they) are naturally afraid of selling too early and too cheap,” the broker said.

December white sugar ??rose 1.1% to $513.40 a tonne.

COFFEE

January robusta coffee rose 0.1% to $2,186 a tonne. The contract hit a 4-1/2 year high of $2,278 in late October.

Dealers said top robusta producer Vietnam’s 2021/22 crop was expected to match the 2020/21 crop at a lower than previously expected 29 million 60 kg bags because many farmers failed to apply enough fertiliser owing to soaring prices.

The country’s 2021/22 crop was previously expected to reach 31 million bags, they said.

March arabica coffee edged up 0.1% to $2.0655 per lb??.

Dealers said that ICE certified arabica stocks are at their lowest since April.