London cocoa gains as investors weigh demand data, supply concerns
LONDON, Oct 17 (Reuters) -London cocoa futures on ICE rose on Thursday but was off the one-month high hit in the previous sessionas investors weighed mixed demand data from Europe and Asia against concerns over output, especially in No. 2 grower Ghana.
COCOA
* March London cocoa LCCc2 rose 2.7% to 5,327 pounds a metric ton at 1024 GMT, still some way off the one-month high of 5,481 pounds hit on Wednesday.
* Europe's third-quarter cocoa grind, a measure of demand, fell 3.3% from a year earlier to 354,334 metric tons, data showed earlier, while Asia's third-quarter cocoa grind rose 2.6% year-on-year to 216,998 metric tons.
* Dealers, who said the Europe grind figures were at the lower end of expectations, are now awaiting North America grind data, due later this session, for further clues as to how demand is reacting to historically high cocoa prices.
* Underpinning cocoa prices, however, are increasing concerns that Ghana will harvest a poor crop this season, with disease and illegal mining both major challenges for the sector.
* In addition, cocoa stocks are being depleted. Total valid stocks on the ICE London cocoa contract totalled 29,020 tons as of Oct. 15, versus 150,520 a year ago.
* December New York cocoa CCc1 rose 1.4% to $7,876 a ton.
COFFEE
* December arabica coffee KCc1 dipped 0.3% to $2.5700 per lb, having settled up 0.5% on Wednesday.
* Arabica prices have been rising for much of this year following adverse weather in top producer Brazil, but dealers say they are growing increasingly concerned about demand growth in coffee.
* Food giant Nestle NESN.S cut its full-year sales outlook following weaker-than-expected nine-month underlying sales growth as consumers react to rising prices for its packaged food products, especially coffee and chocolate.
* November robusta coffee LRCc1 fell 1.9% to $4,766 a metric ton, having hit a one-month low of $4,755.
* Trading activities in top robusta producer Vietnam have not picked up yet as traders are waiting for beans from the new harvest that will arrive starting next month, dealers said.
SUGAR
* March raw sugar SBc1 rose 0.3% to 22.07 cents per lb, having closed down 3.6% on Wednesday.
* December white sugar LSUc1 edged up 0.1% to $564 a ton, having closed down 2.4% on Wednesday.
Reporting by Maytaal Angel; Editing by Eileen Soreng
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