LONDON: London cocoa futures fell sharply on Friday as the market digested third-quarter grind data while raw sugar prices rebounded from the prior session’s four week low.

COCOA

March London cocoa fell 4% to 5,009 pounds a metric ton by 1225 GMT, sliding further from a one-month high of 5,481 pounds set on Wednesday.

Dealers said third-quarter grind data issued this week had provided a mixed picture with a year-on-year decline in Europe but rises in Asia and North America.

They also noted cocoa grinding in top producer Ivory Coast had also been falling.

North American cocoa processing rose in the third quarter of 2024 to 109,264 metric tons, up 11.6% from the same period a year earlier, according to data from the National Confectioners Association released on Thursday.

Market estimates were for an increase of 3% to 5%.

Dealers said the market remained underpinned by low exchange stocks.

Total valid stocks on the London cocoa contract totaled 29,020 tons, as of Oct. 17, down from 150,520 a year ago.

December New York cocoa fell 3.6% to $7,490 a ton.

SUGAR

March raw sugar rose 1.8% to 22.55 cents per lb with the market rebounding from the prior session’s four-week low of 21.71 cents.

Dealers said the market was showing signs of resuming its advance after losing some ground last month. Prices had surged in September to a seven-month high.

December white sugar rose 1.9% to $576.30 a ton.

COFFEE

December arabica coffee rose 0.6% to $2.5665 per lb as dealers continued to assess the extent to which recent rains may have improved the outlook for the 2025 crop in Brazil.

Rains may have come too late for Brazil’s coffee, said farmers and agronomists, expecting a 2025 crop below potential.