Cocoa Declines in London on Improved Outlook in Ivory Coast; Coffee Climbs
Cocoa prices slid to a three-month low in London on speculation of improved crop prospects in Ivory Coast, the world’s largest producer. Coffee gained.
Cocoa has jumped 23 percent in the past 12 months. Ivorian exports climbed 40 percent in June, according to data supplied by the ports of Abidjan and San Pedro. President Laurent Gbagbo said last week that farmers can double their output of cocoa and coffee without hindering planting of local staple crops.
“Improved husbandry may result in a small recovery in the Ivory Coast,” said Kona Haque, an analyst at Macquarie Group Ltd. in London. “It’s the collective growth outside the Ivory Coast where you’d expect to be seeing most of the additional supplies.”
On London’s Liffe exchange, cocoa futures for September delivery fell 8 pounds, or 0.4 percent, to settle at 2,185 pounds ($3,475) a metric ton at 4:56 p.m. local time. Earlier, the price touched 2,148 pounds, the lowest level since April 19.
In Ivory Coast, “we have talk from the president that they may increase production,” said Dennis Cajigas, a senior market strategist at Lind-Waldock, a broker in Chicago.
The country may harvest 1 million tons from its main harvest starting early next month, an 11 percent increase from 900,000 tons a year earlier, ABN Amro Bank NV and VM Group said last month.
In New York, cocoa for December delivery rose $4, or 0.1 percent, to settle at $3,039 a ton at 12:03 p.m. on ICE Futures U.S.
Robusta-coffee futures for September delivery gained $6, or 0.3 percent, to settle at $1,724 a ton at 5:30 p.m. in London.
Arabica-coffee futures for September delivery rose 2.2 cents, or 1.3 percent, to settle at $1.696 a pound at 2 p.m. in New York. Prices have climbed 25 percent this year.
To contact the reporters on this story: Claudia Carpenter in London at ccarpenter2@bloomberg.net; Elizabeth Campbell in Chicago at ecampbell14@bloomberg.net
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