LONDON, Dec 27 (Reuters) – New York cocoa futures were barely changed on Friday although remained well below last week’s record high while coffee and sugar prices fell.
London-based cocoa, robusta coffee and white sugar contracts were resuming trading after the Christmas holiday. New York-based cocoa, arabica coffee and raw sugar markets had been open on Thursday.
* New York cocoa futures on ICE rose a marginal 0.1% to $11,036 a metric ton by 1100 GMT.
* The market has fallen back sharply after setting a record high of $12,931 last week.
* Dealers said there may be scope for prices to fall further in the short-term.
* “We believe there is an appetite for lower prices in the near term,” broker Sucden Financial said in a note looking at technical influences.
* The market, however, continues to be underpinned by an expected slowdown in port arrivals next month in top grower Ivory Coast which could contribute to a fourth consecutive global deficit in the 2024/25 season.
* London cocoa fell 2.95% to 8,865 pounds a ton as the market adjusted to reflect steep losses in the New York market on Thursday.
* Raw sugar fell 0.3% to 19.21 cents per lb, drifting back down towards the prior session’s three-month low of 19.17 cents.
* Dealers said cane and sugar production data for Centre-South Brazil covering the first half of December was likely to be issued by industry group Unica on Friday.
* Sugar production was seen sharply below the same period last year at around 330,000 to 340,000 metric tons compared with 949,000 tons a year earlier.
* March white sugar fell 2.2% to $506.80 a ton.
* Robusta coffee fell 1.4% to $4,969 a ton.
* Dealers said rains were continuing to hamper the harvest in top robusta producer Vietnam.
* Arabica coffee futures on ICE lost 1.4% to $3.1510 per lb. (Reporting by Nigel Hunt; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
