New York cocoa, raw sugar fall to two-week lows

NEW YORK/LONDON: New York cocoa futures on ICE fell on Tuesday to a two-week low, as a short covering rally subsided, while raw sugar also fell to its lowest in two weeks though it remained within its trading range.

COCOA

July New York cocoa settled down $50, or 2.1 percent, at $2,346 per tonne, after falling to $2,314, a two-week low.

Prices encountered support at $2,312, the 21-day moving average, one U.S. dealer said.

July London cocoa settled down 9 pounds, or 0.5 percent, at 1,735 pounds per tonne, after dipping to a one-week low of 1,713. The contract was underpinned by a weaker British currency, dealers said.

On Monday, the contract touched a more than six-week high of 1,767 pounds.

Both contracts had been edging higher for about three weeks on a short-covering rally.

Europe's first-quarter cocoa grind, an indicator of demand for the chocolate ingredient, rose 3.3 percent from the same period last year to 370,359 tonnes.

Germany's first-quarter 2019 cocoa grind rose 1.9 percent.

The data was better than expected but supply expectations remain high, dealers said.

Port arrivals in Ivory Coast were about 14 percent higher than last year, exporters estimated on Monday.

Ghana's cocoa marketing company has sold around 380,000 tonnes of export contracts for the 2019/20 season, said sources there and at the industry's regulator.

SUGAR

May raw sugar settled down 0.15 cents, or 1.2 percent, to 12.51 cents per lb, after falling to a two-week low of 12.43 cents.

The market has been trading in a tightening range; trading between 12.28 and 12.84 cents this month and between 12 and 13.5 cents since November.

Total open interest fell on Monday to 882,824 lots, its lowest in more than a month, ICE data show.

August white sugar settled down $1, or 0.3 percent, at $335.90 per tonne.

A total of 127,700 tonnes of Indian white sugar has been tendered against the May contract, which expired on Monday.

COFFEE

July arabica coffee settled down 0.95 cent, or 1 percent, at 92.95 cents per lb, languishing near the 13-year lows hit last week as a massive Brazilian crop continues to weigh down the market.

A weaker Brazilian currency, which can encourage producer selling, added pressure to the market.

Brazil's coffee industry expects a more moderate consumption growth rate in the local market in 2019 after a jump of almost 5 percent in 2018.

July robusta coffee settled down $7, or 0.5 percent, at $1,431 per tonne.