London cocoa futures rebounded on Monday, pulling further away from the prior session's 7-1/2 month low, while arabica coffee prices fell to a fresh 5-1/2 month low. March London cocoa was up 17 pounds or 1.2 percent at 1,426 pounds a tonne at 1524 GMT.
The contract had dipped to a low of 1,377 pounds on Friday, the weakest for the second position since April 20. "We saw the beginning of some attempts to consolidate on Friday and I think the COT (Commitments of Traders) numbers have also given the market a bit of a tonic," one dealer said.
Speculators have extended a net short position in London cocoa and switched to a net short in New York cocoa, according to data issued on Friday. Dealers said the expiry of the December London cocoa contract on Tuesday would provide a short-term focus with the front month trading at a huge discount of around 125 pounds to March.
"I think there is obviously a lack of a appetite (to take delivery)," one dealer said, noting the wide discount would have normally generated some interest in carrying the cocoa. Dealers noted concerns that some relatively old cocoa may be tendered from origins which are seen as less desirable such as Cameroon. March New York cocoa was up $18, or 0.95 percent, at $1,905 a tonne.
Rains last week in Ivory Coast's main cocoa growing regions were mainly below average but good levels of soil moisture could support the crop if the Harmattan winds remain mild, farmers said. March arabica coffee was off 0.80 cent, or 0.65 percent, at $1.2180 lb after falling to $1.2110, a 5-1/2 month low for the benchmark second position.
Analysts CoffeeNetwork forecast a larger global surplus in 2018/19. "These fundamentals of global production surplus are the backdrop to the downwards movement in coffee prices," CoffeeNetwork said in a report, adding depreciating currencies in top producing countries had also weighed on prices.
January robusta coffee was up $6, or 0.3 percent, at $1,756 a tonne. March raw sugar fell 0.01 cent, or 0.1 percent, to 14.04 cents per lb.
Brazil's center-south region produced 734,000 tonnes of sugar in the second half of November, compared to 1.256 million tonnes in the previous two-week period, cane industry group Unica said on Monday. March white sugar was down $0.40, or 0.1 percent, at $366.40 a tonne.
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