US cocoa futures fell to a fresh one-year low Thursday, pushed down by speculative selling amid a flagging British pound against the dollar and lingering expectations of a good new West African crop, traders said. The New York Board of Trade's most-active September cocoa contract lost $14, or 1 percent, to settle at $1,397 a tonne, near the bottom of a $1,395 to $1,424 trading range.
It was the contract's lowest close since July 2004, and the market's seventh consecutive session of falling prices.
"The industry had a chance to buy these levels - the low $1,400s - before, and I guess we feel that they've got to go into new low ground before we are going to see any appreciable support," said a trader.