London cocoa plummets

London cocoa futures fell more than five percent on Monday, weakened by speculative profit-taking after the rise in prices last week to a near-four-year high, dealers said. May ended down 58 pounds or 5.5 percent at 1,001 pounds a tonne while July finished 57 pounds lower at 1,017. Total volume was a heavy 21,444 lots.
July peaked at 1,081 pounds last week, a near-four-year high for the second month.
"We're seeing speculative profit-taking from weaker longs in the market," one dealer said. Dealers said the market had become heavily overbought after the recent run-up in prices, with the setback seen as largely a technical correction.
The market was underpinned by concern over dry weather in West African producing countries and robust demand. Cocoa purchases declared by private buyers to Ghana's Cocobod industry regulator reached 499,759 tonnes between October 13 and March 1, an industry source said on Monday.
COFFEE SLIGHTLY UP: London robusta coffee futures closed slightly higher on Monday, with the market consolidating after recent volatility, dealers said. May finished up $2 at $1,525 a tonne, near the middle of the day's range of $1,547 to $1,510, while July ended $3 higher at $1,541. Total volume was a moderate 14,053 lots.
Dealers said the market rose to partially fill a chart gap opened up last week between $1,545 and $1,550, basis May, before falling back to little-changed levels. They noted origin sales were weighing on prices, particularly in New York, and the market could soon begin to drift down towards recent lows. "I think we will see those (low levels) under pressure again," one dealer said.
The May contract had rallied from a 2-1/2-month low of $1,457 on March 5 to a one-month peak of $1,584 on March 26. before showing signs of resuming its downtrend late last week.
SUGAR LITTLE CHANGED: London white sugar futures finished little changed on Monday, with volume boosted by rolling forward of positions out of May ahead of its expiry late next week, dealers said.
May ended down $1.60 at $330.40 a tonne after touching a five-week low for the front month of $329.10, while August finished $0.90 higher at $318.40. Dealers noted the front month's premium slipped to about $12.00 from $14.50 indicated at the close on Friday. "May-August switches (spreads) have accounted for a lot of the activity and volumes are rather good," one dealer said.
Total volume was 8,854 lots. London raws were lightly traded with a total turnover of just 20 lots. Most active March 2008 ended down 0.10 cents at 10.87 cents a lb.