LONDON: London cocoa prices were lower on Thursday, slipping back towards a three-year low set earlier this week, while robusta coffee and sugar futures also eased.
COCOA: London cocoa fell 0.9 percent to 2,154 pounds per metric ton by 1523 GMT. The market had slumped to a three-year low of 2,015 pounds on Monday.
Dealers noted both Ivory Coast and Ghana, the world’s top two producers, had cut the price paid to farmers recently in a bid to boost sales against the backdrop of weak demand and an oversupplied global market.
Ivory Coast has cut the fixed farmgate price paid to cocoa farmers by 57 percent to 1,200 CFA francs (USD2.14) per kg for the mid-crop, Agriculture Minister Bruno Kone said on Wednesday.
New York cocoa lost 2.1 percent to USD2,996 a ton.
COFFEE: Robusta coffee fell 0.2 percent to USD3,725 a ton.
Dealers said the Middle East conflict had halted shipments from top robusta producer Vietnam to the Gulf and also raised the cost of shipping supplies to Europe.
“For now, sea freight routes from Vietnam to Europe remain unaffected, although fares have at least doubled,” said a trader based in Vietnam’s coffee belt.
“If the tensions escalate to the level of the Red Sea crisis two years ago, Vietnam’s coffee exports may be hurt as Europe is Vietnam’s main coffee market.”
Arabica coffee gained 0.4 percent to USD2.8750 per lb.
Coffee production in Colombia dropped 36 percent to 869,000 60-kilogram bags year-on-year in February, the National Federation of Coffee Growers said on Thursday.
SUGAR: Raw sugar fell 0.4 percent to 13.67 cents per lb.
Dealers said a potential loss of demand for raws from Gulf refineries as the Middle East conflict disrupts shipping had helped offset support for sugar linked to higher energy prices.
White sugar lost 0.4 percent to USD407.50 a ton.
Comments