US cocoa trading in the pit settled mildly higher Tuesday, after a quiet session marked by thin dealings and light short covering, traders said. "There was light origin selling early but it disappeared. There were some big bids on the screen but (they) did not move the market," one trader said.
The open-outcry ICE December contract closed up $11 at $1,870 per tonne, in dealings from $1,864 to $1,883. The rest closed in a range from $4 to $5 higher. On the screen, December was up $16 at $1,875 at 12:37 pm EDT (1637 GMT), in a trading band from $1,848 to $1,882. The rest ranged from flat to $14 higher.
Overseas, the Liffe December contract settled up 4 pounds at 944 pounds per tonne, in a trading range from 934 to 952 pounds. ICE estimated open-outcry volume around noon at 773 lots, compared with the 1,507 lots that traded on the floor Monday when 5,363 contracts traded on the ICE screen.
In the No 1 producer, Ghana's cocoa marketing authorities have installed conveyor belts and increased warehouse capacity at both of the country's main ports in a bid to reduce loading and shipment delays, a top official said.