London cocoa prices climb; robusta coffee falls 2%

NEW YORK — London cocoa futures on ICE closed up on Thursday with the market consolidating below a record high set earlier this week, while robusta coffee prices fell.

There will be no trading on ICE on Friday due to the Good Friday holiday.

COCOA: July London cocoa settled up £62 or 0.8% to £7,725 per metric ton, although prices remained well below a record peak of £8,009 set on Tuesday.

Dealers said the market’s focus was turning to the mid-crop in top grower Ivory Coast, which begins next week with a decline to around 400,000 to 500,000 tons expected, down from 600,000 tons a year ago.

Some African cocoa farmers have been impacted by illegal gold mining that destroys their fields, one more reason for smaller crops.

July New York cocoa was little changed at $9,306 a ton.

COFFEE: May robusta coffee settled down $80 or 2.2% at $3,479 a ton, slipping back slightly after the market’s recent strong rise.

Dealers said supplies were exceptionally tight in Vietnam while there were concerns that dry weather could reduce next year’s crop in the world’s top robusta producer.

A sharp year-on-year decline in exports from Indonesia has also helped to support prices. May arabica coffee fell 0.9% at $1.8885 per pound (lb).

SUGAR: May raw sugar settled up 0.33 cent or 1.5% at 22.52 cents per lb.

Dealers said recent rainfall appeared to have improved the outlook for Brazil’s 2024/2025 cane crop, although some concerns about dry conditions remained.

“Brazil may have a strong early harvest, which may be bearish in the short term, but harvested cane volumes may disappoint later in the year,” Rabobank said in a report.

May white sugar rose 1.1% at $652.50 a ton.