Liffe second-month September cocoa closed at 2,419 pounds per tonne, down 17 pounds on Thursday. Dealers looked to the impending July delivery on Friday, which is expected to be up to 230,000 tonnes of cocoa. Liffe front-month white sugar futures settled at $574.00 per tonne, down $4.20, a small delivery is expected against the August contract, which expires Friday.
Liffe second-month robusta coffee settled at $1,753 per tonne, up $22. Dealers said the market was supported by fund interest. Cocoa futures on Liffe suffered a modest setback following a strong expiry to the July contract earlier in the day with dealers expecting almost all of the available graded stocks to be tendered.
Sugar rose, as a large vessel line-up to load the sweetener in top producer Brazil caused port congestion, while arabica coffee futures threatened to break out of its recent range to the upside. In cocoa, dealers focused on expectations of a huge delivery after expiry of the July contract on Thursday. At expiry the contract's premium to September approached a massive 300 pounds a tonne while open interest in the contract at Wednesday's close remained high at 24,866 lots, equivalent to 248,660 tonnes of cocoa, Liffe reported.
Dealers said as much as 230,000 tonnes could be delivered against the contract, representing the bulk of available graded cocoa and significantly higher than the around 50,000 tonnes tendered against the July 2009 contract. "I'm sure there is one person who is going to take up the majority. It leaves the September contract a little vulnerable, people are worried September could go the same way," a London-based trader said. Dealers awaited North America second-quarter 2010 cocoa grind data, which will be released post-market on Thursday. Analysts estimate a 4-8 percent rise from a year ago.
In sugar, dealers referred to uncertainty over the immediate price outlook due to the large line-up of vessels at Brazilian ports waiting to load new-crop sugar. "While this line-up reflects the urgency of end destination to replenish stocks and for refiners to take advantage of the current (high) white sugar premium, the picture further forward is unclear," said Nick Penney of broker Sucden Financial Sugar. Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao said the market had been temporarily trapped between $1.6310 and $1.67 and a break above that range could trigger a rise to $1.6935.