US cocoa futures settled mostly lower on Wednesday after a rangebound session dominated by continued July/September position rolling, traders said. "We're getting a lot of rollovers right now because of the first notice period for July cocoa on (June) 18th, and that's why we're in this narrow range here," one trader said.
New York Board of Trade spot-month July inched up $1 to close the open-outcry session at $1,837 per tonne after dealing from $1,832 to $1,850. Benchmark September slipped $1 to $1,865 while the rest finished from $1 to $3 lower. The September contract trading on the IntercontinentalExchange NYBOT electronic platform was $3 higher at $1,869 at 12:52 pm, while the rest ranged $5 higher to $3 lower. Electronic trading ends at 3:15 pm.
In London, cocoa futures finished up a shade, with Life's July contract 1 pound firmer at 1,008 pounds a tonne and dealt in a tight range of 1,004 to 1,013 pounds. NYBOT estimated open-outcry volume around noon at 3,407 lots, compared to the 4,788 contracts that traded in open-outcry on Tuesday when 14,194 lots traded on the ICE electronic platform.
Open interest fell 3,564 lots to 143,987 contracts as of June 12. In the world's top cocoa producer, fierce competition for beans between cocoa processors in Ivory Coast kept average farmgate prices well above a 400 CFA per kg guideline rate from June 4 to 10, farmers and buyers said on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Brazilian 2007/08 (May/April) cocoa arrivals from Bahia and other states totalled 306,752 60-kg bags by June 10, down 29 percent from 432,808 bags a year ago, Bahia Commercial Association said on Wednesday.