New York cocoa futures plunge more than 3% as North American grind dips

NEW YORK/LONDON — New York cocoa futures on ICE closed more than 3% lower on Friday, weakened by an unexpected decline in the fourth-quarter North American cocoa grind, while sugar and coffee prices also fell.

COCOA: March New York cocoa settled down $84 or 3.2% at $2,576 a ton, a one-week low.

March London cocoa fell £21 or 1.2% to £1,737 per ton.

North American cocoa grindings unexpectedly fell in the fourth quarter of 2021 to 116,613 tons, down 1.2% from the same period a year earlier, according to data from the National Confectioners Association.

Dealers noted there continued to be an overall upward trend in grindings, despite the North American data, with the European and Asian fourth-quarter grinds both rising by 6.3% year on year.

Fitch Solutions, in a report on Friday, said it expected a higher average price for cocoa of £1,775 in 2022, with more international travel helping to boost demand for chocolate.

SUGAR: March raw sugar settled down 0.03 cent or 0.2% at 18.90 cents per pound (lb), pressured by weakness in crude oil and many other commodity markets.

Dealers said broad-based weakness in financial markets had prompted some investors to take profit after the March contract climbed to a three-week high of 19.29 cents on Thursday.

“After a 5.35% jump on the week, the market coming to Friday has taken some profit. The question is, have we seen the high for the near term, or not?” said a US-based broker.

March white sugar settled down $1.90 or 0.4% at $505.40 a ton.

COFFEE: March robusta coffee settled down $14 or 0.6% at $2,213 a ton.

Dealers said recent weakness in robusta prices had led to a slowdown in farmer selling in top robusta producer Vietnam.

March arabica coffee settled down 5.75 cents or 2.4% at $2.379 per lb. —