Liffe March cocoa ended 38 pounds higher at 1,904 pounds a tonne on Tuesday. Market awaiting delayed election results from top grower Ivory Coast as cocoa exporters shut operations and political tensions rise. Liffe March white sugar ended $17.80 lower at $710.00 per tonne. Market weighed by signs that crops in India and Brazil may be slightly higher than previously anticipated along with a stronger dollar.
Liffe January robusta coffee ended $10 higher at $1,789 per tonne. Market continues to eye harvest progress in top robusta producer Vietnam where rains have caused delays.
"The (cocoa) market is dominated by any potential ramifications of the result," a London-based broker said. Ivory Coast's election body failed on Tuesday to announce the first partial results of a tense presidential vote, after President Laurent Gbagbo's party said they would formally challenge the results in the north.
Security forces deployed heavily around the election commission's office in the main city of Abidjan, which was blocked off with a barrier, a Reuters witness saw. Cocoa exporters in Ivory Coast have shut operations due to tensions ahead of the election results, three industry sources told Reuters.
The market was also weighed by comments from the Indian Sugar Mills Association that the 2010/11 crop is expected to total 25.5 million tonnes. Dealers said a crop of that size may be sufficiently large to encourage the Indian authorities to allow exports. "I think that (the dollar and ISMA comments) was enough to tip the scales, and we ran a few stops when we went through the 40-day moving average at 28.17 and another batch at 28.00," one London dealer said.
Dealers said the market was paying close attention to economic influences as eurozone debt problems weighed on many financial markets. "The fundamental picture seems to still favour the bulls. However, the macro picture has the potential to give the bears something to 'panic' the market lower," brokers Sucden Financial said in a market note.