London cocoa futures closed lower on Tuesday as hedge-related selling weighed on the market, dealers said. Benchmark July closed down four pounds at 871 pounds a tonne, having moved from 880 to 870 pounds, while the May contract finished down eight pounds at 870 pounds a tonne.
"We've had some good buying from industry, but that met with hedge selling" one trader said, as he also noted some trading against actuals and spread trading.
"The market does not look like it wants to rally too much from here," he said, as trade remained stuck in a range.
Total volume was 12,204 lots.
Cocoa arrivals at ports in Ivory Coast reached around 946,000 tonnes between October 1, 2005, and April 16, a sharp rise on the previous week, exporters contacted by Reuters estimated on Tuesday.
A favourable combination of rain and sun is swelling cocoa pods on Ivory Coast's farms, heralding a strong cocoa mid crop in the world's No 1 producer, farmers and industry experts said.
SUGAR RISES: London white sugar futures jumped over 2.5 percent on speculative buying toward midday on Tuesday, buoyed by fund demand for raw sugar futures on Monday and a surge in crude oil prices to a record peak, traders said.
Benchmark August white sugar futures hit a 12-day front-month continunation high of $471.00 per tonne, before easing back slightly to stand at $470.70, up $11.70 or 2.55 percent, in volume of 1,184 lots at 1018 GMT.
October was up $9.90 or 2.18 percent to $464.80 per tonne in volume of 220 lots, after trading from $465.70 to $460.70.
Traders said trade and speculative, possibly fund, buying drove up London white sugar futures from the start.
They said much of the momentum came from the stronger close in raw sugar futures in New York on Monday, driven by fund buying, and the surge in crude oil prices to record highs, as well as a jump in Chinese sugar futures.
Sugar futures on China's Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange rose four percent on Tuesday as an auction of white sugar from government reserves fetched higher-than-expected prices.
Analysts said all-time high crude oil prices helped sugar futures by signalling stronger demand for cane-derived ethanol biofuel.
Oil surged to a record high above $72 on Tuesday on concern that Iran's nuclear stand-off with the West could cut oil exports from the world's fourth-largest crude exporter.
COCOA STEADIES: London cocoa futures were steady at midsession on Tuesday after some speculative selling in early morning trade and scale-down commercial buying, dealers said.
At 1130 GMT, benchmark July was up one pound at 876 pounds a tonne, after moving in a range from 879 pounds to 873 pounds. The May contract rose one pound to 879 pounds a tonne.
Total volume was 3,259 lots, which was also made up partly of trading against actuals, one dealer said. "The market is stuck in the old trading range, we're waiting to see what New York does," he said.
US spot-month cocoa futures rebounded on Monday as a weak dollar attracted European buying on the local front with London closed for the Easter break.
A favourable combination of rain and sun is swelling cocoa pods on Ivory Coast's farms, heralding a strong cocoa mid crop in the world's No 1 producer, farmers and industry experts said on Tuesday. Brazil's cocoa grind totalled 16,915 tonnes in March, down 4.5 percent from 17,715 tonnes a year ago, cocoa analyst Thomas Hartmann said.