Liffe cocoa futures fell on Wednesday as speculators placed offers in a vacuum and triggered sell-stops, pushing the market through support, dealers said.
Light industry buying revived prices from the lows but the market remained vulnerable to further selling, with the fundamental picture offering little support.
Dealers said longs at origin, including exporters and intermediaries in West Africa, prepared the ground for the slide after prices remained on the defensive for the past few days.
"They get forced to sell and that is putting significant pressure on the market," a dealer said.
Benchmark May closed nine pounds lower at 852 pounds per tonne on 7,874 lots out of total turnover of 19,707 lots.
It moved between 863 and 816, which put recent 27-month continuation lows within reach.
Next support was at 806/800.
Estimates in the market for Ivorian main crop production range between 850,000 and one million tonnes, with less than a month to go before the start of the mid crop.