US cocoa futures fell to a fresh one-year low on 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.
"This has been a period of very little news, and what news we've had has tended to be bearish it's been continued new crop development," the trader said, adding that the September contract could fall below its low of $1,385 before the market attracts fresh industry buying.
The dollar gained further ground against sterling, buoyed in part by a series of London explosions, which Britain's interior minister called "terrorist attacks."
At the time the cocoa market closed, sterling was hovering at $1.7420 against the dollar, just above 19-month low around $1.7403. Among other cocoa contracts, December eased $14 to $1,430 a tonne, while deferred deliveries shed $12 to $14.
In London, Life's benchmark September cocoa contract settled at 836 pounds a tonne, off 2 pounds.
One floor trader said there had been some "good speculative buying" in the session.
On the fundamental front, cocoa arrivals at ports in No 1 cocoa producer Ivory Coast fell more than 10 percent by June 26 compared to the same period a year, according to an estimate by major exporters.
Arrivals at the West African country's ports reached 1,109,522 tonnes between October 1, 2004 and June 26, 2005, down from 1,243,104 tonnes delivered to ports during the same period in the 2003/04 season, reported Reuters in Abidjan.
One European exporter attributed the slow arrivals to transport difficulties because of recent heavy rainfall in the region.
Still, US weather service Meteorlogix said more rain and cooler weather was needed for favourable development of the next cocoa crop in Ivory Coast.
NYBOT trading volume reached an estimated 9,248 lots, compared with Wednesday's official tally of 9,981 contracts.
Open interest fetched 120,466 contracts on July 6, up 2,440 lots from the previous session.