Cocoa Rises as Grindings May Indicate More Demand; Coffee Falls

October 15th, 2013

By:

Category: Cocoa

(Bloomberg) – Cocoa rose in London on speculation data will show bean processing increased in North America just as chocolate makers need to buy futures. Coffee retreated.

The so-called cocoa grind in North America may have risen 6 percent to 10 percent in the third quarter, according to broker Marex Spectron Group. That exceeds the 5.1 percent forecast in a Bloomberg trader and analyst survey. The National Confectioners Association will release the data Oct. 17. European processing gained 4.7 percent in the period, data showed last week.

“The immediate focus is on U.S. grinds,” Eric Sivry, head of agricultural options brokerage at London-based Marex Spectron, said by e-mail today. “The industry is running at a low 4 to 4.5 months’ worth of forward cover.”

Cocoa for delivery in December added 0.7 percent to 1,766 pounds ($2,814) a metric ton by 10:52 a.m. on NYSE Liffe in London. Cocoa for the same delivery month gained 0.3 percent to $2,720 a ton on ICE Futures U.S. in New York.

Prices slid yesterday as bean deliveries in top producer Ivory Coast jumped almost fivefold from a year earlier to 64,000 tons in the Oct. 1-13 period, according to data on the website of KnowledgeCharts, a unit of Commodities Risk Analysis.

“Some do believe that as much as two-thirds of this cocoa arriving at Ivorian ports was carried over from the previous season,” Sivry said. Farmers are now getting 50 CFA francs (10 U.S. cents) more than the price for the mid-crop, the smaller of two annual harvests that ended Sept. 30, “so the bigger numbers make sense, in a way.”

Farmers will get at least 750 CFA francs a kilogram (2.2 pounds) for the main cocoa harvest for the 2013-14 season started Oct. 1, according to Ivory Coast’s government. That compares with 2012-13 figures of 700 CFA francs for the mid-crop and 725 CFA francs for the main crop.

Robusta coffee for delivery in November tumbled 1.8 percent to $1,702 a ton on NYSE Liffe. Arabica coffee for delivery in December fell 1.5 percent to $1.153 a pound on ICE.

Refined, or white, sugar for delivery in December rose 0.1 percent to $508.60 a ton in London. Raw sugar for delivery in March added 0.1 percent to 19.06 cents a pound in New York.

Add New Comment

Forgot password? or Register

You are commenting as a guest.