Liffe July cocoa ended 7 pounds lower at 1,914 pounds a tonne on Thursday. Market treading water as traders keep a close watch on developments in top producer Ivory Coast. Liffe July robusta coffee ended $54 higher at $2,443 a tonne, supported by a fund-driven advance in ICE arabicas. A tight supply outlook also providing support. Liffe May white sugar rises $1.90 to close at $707.70 a tonne. Market remains rangebound.
"Whoever was short decided to get out and I think it's encouraged a little bit of new buying today," said Rodrigo Costa, vice president of institutional sales for Newedge USA. The market scored its biggest one-day percent gain in five months on a flurry of short-covering, possibly marking a key reversal higher. After correcting lower Wednesday, fund short-covering and buying lifted prices once again.
Robusta coffee futures were also firm, as ample supplies from top producer Vietnam weighed. While the premium for May robustas fell against July, the premium of arabica over robustas continued to soar to about $1.60 per lb, up more than 8 percent from March 29.and it's started to come towards Europe," Gary Mead, an analyst at VM Group, said. "The market is just not willing to do much until the situation in the Ivory Coast clears out," one cocoa dealer said.
Shippers said Ivorian cocoa exports will take a couple of weeks to resume once Gbagbo steps down and security in the world's top producer stabilises, shippers said. "The cocoa market has come off quite significantly in the past month due to the prospect of cocoa exports freeing up," a senior analyst with a large trade house said. "Sugar's struggling to go higher as Brazil's just starting harvest," Newedge's Costa said. "For the most part, we had all the bullishness already priced, and we're seeing news that's coming out that is slightly more bearish for the short term."