London cocoa futures closed slightly weaker on Thursday as pressure from fund selling met with support from short-covering, traders said.
Front-month December finished six pounds lower at 810 pounds a tonne after ranging between 818 and 803 on volume of 5,326 from a total of 11,884.
"There still seems to be fund liquidation and we've seen some light short-covering," said one trader.
LIFFE cocoa prices have shed about eight percent during the past two weeks though scale-down interest from industry has helped mitigate losses, particularly around the 800 level traders said.
Second-month March finished 5.0 pounds lower at 835 pounds a tonne, after a range of 841-828 and turnover of 3,466 lots.
The market failed to respond to news from German confectionery association BDSI that Germany's third-quarter 2004 cocoa grind rose 10.6 percent on the year to 59,987 tonnes, the highest in almost four years.
The increase was stronger than expected, one analyst said.
Germany accounts for about 20 percent of total European cocoa grindings.
Meanwhile, cocoa participants are still waiting for the official start of Ivory Coast's main crop season, which was scheduled to begin October 1.
Farmers have been staying away from the market until the government fixes levies and farmgate prices.
The new minimum indicative price given to farmers should be set by the end of the week, an official told Reuters in Abidjan on Wednesday.
Exports of semi-finished cocoa products from Ivory Coast's San Pedro port totalled 25,573 tonnes in 2003/04 season (Oct-Sept), up about 11.4 percent from a year ago, port data showed on Thursday.
COFFEE FLAT: London robusta coffee futures ended on a fairly flat note on Thurday after a session of mainly structural trade, dealers said.
Front-month LIFFE November closed flat at $617 a tonne after trading 1,764 lots from a total tally of 5,031 and moving between $621 and $613. Most-active January ended at $635 a tonne, just $1 down on the day after moving 2,261 lots in a $10 range.
"There was trade buying today but the market was quiet," said a second trader, adding that prices may come under stronger downward pressure in coming days unless rain fails to materialise in Brazil's main coffee-growing areas.
Drier-than-normal weather has stoked concern in recent weeks about the top producer's next crop because sufficient rainfall is needed at this time of year for coffee trees to flower properly.
A cold front brought scattered showers to the northeastern states of Bahia on Thursday, but Brazil's main coffee area in Minas Gerais stayed dry, private meteorologists Somar said on Thursday.