LONDON: Cocoa prices on ICE Europe dipped on Wednesday as dealers awaited clarity on how top producers Ivory Coast and Ghana will price their beans going forward, while coffee and sugar were little changed.
COCOA
September London cocoa was down 11 pounds, or 0.6pc, at 1,886 pounds a tonne at 1438 GMT, having touched a one-year high of 1,939 pounds on Monday.
In a major market shake-up, Ivory Coast and Ghana, which produce some 60pc of the world's cocoa, plan to introduce a new pricing system for their beans in a bid to bolster the market and address farmer poverty.
"Obviously this plan has got the market somewhat spooked, but I'm suspicious. The ramifications of the plan are very unclear. As things stand all I can see is a not unreasonable crop," said a dealer.
Cocoa arrivals at ports in Ivory Coast reached 2.061 million tonnes between Oct. 1 and June 30, up about 10pc from the same period last season.
In an indication of strong demand, however, Ivory Coast cocoa grinders had processed 407,000 tonnes of beans by the end of June, up from 379,000 tonnes during same period last season.
September New York cocoa was flat at $2,520 a tonne.
New York cocoa may seek a support at $2,496 per tonne and then resume its rally, technical signals suggest.
COFFEE
September arabica coffee edged up 0.2 cents, or 0.2pc, to $1.0760 per lb. The market touched a seven-month peak of $1.1565 on Friday on fears over frost in top producer Brazil.
Brazil's Cooxupe will release a report later today with its initial evaluation of the weekend frosts.
"At present there appears to have been only a small number of isolated incidents of frost, with a significant impact in next year's output deemed unlikely. There is no longer a risk of frost in the current forecast," said Rabobank in a note.
September robusta coffee rose $12, or 0.8pc, to $1,448 a tonne.
SUGAR
October raw sugar edged up 0.03 cents, or 0.2pc, to 12.38 cents per lb.
Brazil's center-south region produced 2.19 million tonnes of sugar in the second half of June, 4pc less than in the same period a year earlier, industry group Unica said.
It added more time was needed to assess the eventual production impact from frosts in Brazil's center-south.
India's monsoon rains in the week ending on Wednesday were above average for the first time since the start of the season on June 1, easing concerns of drought.
August white sugar rose $2.00, or 0.6pc, to $321.30 a tonne.
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