Liffe July cocoa closed 9 pounds higher at 1,946 pounds a tonne on Wednesday as top producer Ivory Coast looked set to resume cocoa exports next week and dealers waited for more information on the state of the mid-crop and stocks held in the country.
Liffe May white sugar eased $6.90 to close at $690.60 a tonne. Prices consolidated after Tuesday's fall, with dealers noting bearish fundamentals were likely to cap future gains. Liffe July robusta coffee ended $74 higher at $2,500 a tonne, tracking strength in the arabica market on supportive technicals.
Cocoa futures prices have fallen by around 25 percent since peaking at a 32-year high in March as Ivory Coast has looked closer to resuming exports after the EU lifted sanctions and leader Laurent Gbagbo was arrested. The lower prices have stimulated industry off-take, dealers said, noting concerns over possible disruptions to mid-crop harvesting due to instability in the country.
"The reason it's holding is that industry are buying," a dealer at an international trade house said. The market's focus shifted to the first-quarter European cocoa grind data, a key indicator of demand, due on Thursday. "We'd expect it to be a little bit up due to the fact there's been no grinding in Ivory Coast. If it's not up, it's bearish," the dealer said, estimating grindings would increase by 2 or 3 percent.
A second dealer said, "We expect ECA grindings to be slightly better due to replacement from Ivory Coast." International trade house and cocoa processor Archer Daniels Midland Co (ADM), whose operations in Ivory Coast have been suspended since the first week of March, said in an emailed statement: "We're currently leveraging our cocoa processing operations in Ghana, Singapore, Brazil, the United States and Europe to meet our customers' needs."
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