Cocoa falls from 11-month peak, sugar touches 1-1/2 month high

NEW YORK/LONDON: Cocoa futures on ICE fell on Thursday, a day after hitting 11-month highs technically close to overbought territory, while sugar rose to a more than 1-1/2 month high.

COCOA

* September New York cocoa settled down $31, or 1.2%, at $2,510 per tonne.

* In the previous session, the contract climbed to a nearly one-year high of $2,552, on speculative buying and news of a price floor agreement in West Africa.

* The contract neared technically overbought territory on the relative strength index, however, warranting a slight correction. The ongoing roll also pressured prices, dealers said.

* Ghana and Ivory Coast, which account for nearly two-thirds of global production, set a minimum price of $2,600 a tonne on Wednesday and suspended forward sales for the 2020-21 season.

* Rabbobank analyst Carolos Mera said the move was significant but cited some concern that no plan was announced to deal with excess supply, which often accompanies a move to set floor prices.

* Ghana's Cocoa Marketing Company (CMC) has sold 550,000 tonnes of beans for the 2019/20 season, sources at Ghana's marketing board said on Thursday.

* September London cocoa settled down 15 pounds, or 0.8%, at 1,850 pounds per tonne.

SUGAR

* July raw sugar settled up 0.13 cent, or 1%, at 12.75 cents per lb, its highest since April 22.

* "The corn market is helping the sugar market right now," said one US trader.

* Corn prices are near three-year highs on bad Midwestern weather, which could in turn increase the demand for cane-based ethanol.

* Sugar was also buoyed by news that production in India, a top-grower, could fall as much as 15% in 2019/20 because of drought.

* "The market looks set to continue to improve. However, stocks remain high and demand tepid. Additionally, Brazilian ethanol parity is around 13.00 - 13.30 cents. (Selling) is likely if prices push up another 50 points," one dealer said.

* August white sugar settled up $2, or 0.6%, at $335.70 per tonne.

COFFEE

* September arabica coffee settled down 1.75 cent, or 1.7%, at 99.75 cents per lb.

* The amount of coffee in the hands of private companies in Brazil reached 12.8 million bags by March 31, up 31% year on year, the government's food supply and statistics agency Conab said.

* September robusta coffee settled down $15, or 1.1%, at $1,414 per tonne.

* Vietnam's domestic robusta prices rose on Thursday by about 2.1% from a week earlier as exchange rate fluctuations prompted some farmers to refrain from selling.