London cocoa hits one-month high on supply jitters, coffee falls

Reuters

London cocoa hits one-month high on supply jitters, coffee falls

Oct 15, 2024 at 2:56 pm GMT

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Updates prices, adds details

LONDON, Oct 15 (Reuters) -London cocoa futures on ICE rose to their highest in a month on Tuesday amid renewed worries over supply, while coffee retreated from a recent 13-year peak.

COCOA

* March London cocoa LCCc2 rose 1% to 5,128 pounds a metric ton at 1442 GMT, having hit a one-month high of 5,200.

* The International Cocoa Organization (ICCO) sees Ivory Coast's cocoa production reaching 2 million metric tons in the 2024/25 season versus 1.8 million tons last season, an ICCO expert told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

* For No. 2 grower Ghana, however, the ICCO does not expect production to exceed 500,000 tons due to issues related to artisanal gold-mining and swollen shoot disease, which affects about 40% of Ghanaian plantations compared with 15-20% of those in Ivory Coast.

* "I remain cautious," said the director of an international cocoa export company in Abidjan, referring to the ICCO's Ivory Coast projection.

* "We really don't know why production dropped so much in (2023/24), it's not just because of weather conditions," he said.

* A plan developed by Brazil to double its cocoa production to 400,000 metric tons by 2030 looks realistic, the World Cocoa Foundation said.

* Brokerage J.P.Morgan has cut chocolate-maker Hershey's price target, citing softer demand and higher cocoa prices, which it expects will remain elevated in the near future.

* December New York cocoa CCc1 rose 1.3% to $7,717 a ton.

COFFEE

* December arabica coffee KCc1 fell 2.1% to $2.5650 per lb.

* Dealers said hopes are high that the arrival of long-overdue rains in top arabica producer Brazil will spur the trees to flower — the first stage of fruit production.

* November robusta coffee LRCc1 was down 1% at $4,922 a metric ton.

SUGAR

* March raw sugar SBc1 slipped 0.2% to 22.35 cents per lb, but remained above last week's 2-1/2 week low.

* France's farm ministry sees sugar beet production in 2024 falling to 34.18 million tons versus 34.38 million a year ago.

* December white sugar LSUc1 slipped 0.4% to $572.80 a ton.

Reporting by Maytaal Angel; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar

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