London cocoa steadies after hitting two-week low on EU grind data

LONDON: London cocoa prices on ICE Futures steadied on Tuesday after earlier hitting two-week lows as European grind data indicated worse than expected demand for the chocolate ingredient in the second quarter.

COCOA

* September London cocoa rose 4 pounds, or 0.2%, to 1,825 pounds ($2,269) a tonne at 1135 GMT, having hit its lowest since July 2 at 1,813 pounds. It closed down 2.7% on Monday.

* Europe's second-quarter cocoa grind fell 3.2% from the same period last year, the European Cocoa Association said.

* Markets had expected the grind to increase by 2%, according to Commerzbank, citing a Bloomberg survey.

* Germany's second quarter 2019 cocoa grind fell 0.2% on the year, the association of German confectionery producers said.

* "If the crop development is good and rains come back I think the market is probably overpriced," said a dealer.

* London cocoa hit a one-year high last week before a move by Ivory Coast and Ghana, which produce about 60% of the world's cocoa, to introduce a new pricing system for their beans.

* September New York cocoa was down $2, or 0.1%, at $2,418 a tonne. The contract hit a 5-1/2 week low on Monday, having touched a one-year high early last week.

* Data on second-quarter grindings from North American is due on Thursday.

SUGAR

* August white sugar, which expires later this session, was up $0.40, or 0.1%, at $294.40 a tonne, not far off a contract low hit on Monday.

* There remained 16,554 lots of open interest in the contract as of Monday, indicating potential for a large delivery.

* October raw sugar was down 0.1 cents, or 0.5%, at 12.00 cents per lb, having touched a six-week low of 11.95.

* "Despite chatter about several weather issues, the amount of global stocks is limiting any chance of a decent rally," said a dealer.

* Weighing on sugar, India, a top producer and home to much of the world's excess stocks, plans to keep its sugar export subsidies despite complaints to the World Trade Organization.

COFFEE

* September arabica coffee was down 1.2 cents, or 1.1%, at $1.0910 per lb, having closed up 3.4% on Monday.

* Dealers continue to closely follow temperatures in top producer Brazil.

* While forecasts for the coming 6-10 days feature cool temperatures across southern Brazil, "the frost threat remains low at this time," weather forecaster Radiant Solutions said in a note last week.

* US green coffee stocks rose by 210,255 bags to 6.8 million 60-kg bags by the end of June, according to the Green Coffee Association.

* September robusta coffee was down $7, or 0.5%, at $1,427 a tonne.