Arabica coffee, Cocoa Price january 3 2012

Coffee Prices today - Arabica coffee, Cocoa Price january 3 2012 : Arabica coffee climbed in New York to the highest level in more than three weeks as investors bought the futures on speculation prices may have bottomed. Sugar retreated.

The beans traded on ICE futures U.S. gained 3.9 percent yesterday after a vote in the House of Representatives broke a year-long impasse over how to avert $600 billion in tax increases and spending cuts that threatened to send the economy back into recession. Speculators are now closing out bets on lower prices after arabica fell the most in 12 years and was the worst performing commodity in the Standard & Poor’s index of 24 raw materials last year, according to Citigroup Inc.

cocoa futures prices september 11 2012

coffee prices today cocoa futures prices september 11 2012 :

* ICE December cocoa futures settled down $21, or 0.8 percent, at $2,632 per tonne on profit taking after prices hit 10-months highs on Thursday.

* "This is a function of profit taking. If there are any supply shocks, we could reach a higher plateau," said Keith Flury, senior commodities analyst.

* Ghana has delayed implementing a windfall tax on mining profits while it considers whether to scrap the proposed levy, the head of the country's mining regulator said.

* Cocoa prices in most of Ivory Coast's principal growing regions and at its two ports surged last week as exporters and merchants scrambled to secure stocks due to worries about early-season supply, farmers and buyers said on Tuesday.

Arabica Coffee, Cocoa futures prices forecast 2012-2013

Coffee prices today - Arabica Coffee, Cocoa futures prices forecast 2012-2013 : Credit Suisse Group AG’s private banking unit raised its price forecasts for arabica coffee traded in New York, saying prices have found a bottom.

Arabica coffee futures will be at $1.80 a pound on ICE Futures U.S. in three and 12 months, the bank said in a report e-mailed today. That compares with a previous forecast of $1.50 a pound. The beans climbed 1.3 percent so far this month on speculation rains in Brazil would reduce crop quality.

“We think coffee prices have found a bottom after a long correction and expect sideways trading going forward,” Tobias Merath, head of commodity research at the bank, wrote in the report. “Prices are now very close to fair value.”

The coffee market remains in a surplus and inventories are rising, Merath said, without giving an estimate. Valuation, technical indicators and fundamentals of coffee have recently improved, according to the bank.

Cocoa prices are likely to keep trading between $2,000 and $2,500 a metric ton in New York for “quite some time,” the bank said. It forecasts prices at $2,250 a ton in three months and $2,300 a ton in 12 months, according to the report. Prices have climbed 1.9 percent this month to $2,335 a ton.

“Prices are testing the upper end of this range again, but we see little impetus for a decisive break higher,” Merath said. “The cocoa market is currently rated neutral on all accounts.”

coffee, cocoa prices outlook july 23-27 2012

Coffee prices today - coffee, cocoa prices outlook july 23-27 2012 : India's monsoon rains have revived and are expected to remain active at least until the end of this month, weather officials said on Friday, easing risks of a drought for now and helping planting to pick up momentum. Cocoa futures were little changed after Asia's grindings rose and North America's grind fell sharply in its biggest drop in more than three years. ICE September cocoa futures inched down $1 to settle at $2,229 a tonne, while London September cocoa closed up 11 pounds, or 0.7 percent, at 1,543 pounds per tonne.

"The market is demonstrating that the grinds were not much of a surprise," said a European trader. Cocoa grindings in Asia rose 5.7 percent to 150,726 tonnes in the second quarter of 2012 from the same period last year, while North American cocoa grindings in the second quarter of 2012.

The data follows Europe's sharpest quarterly fall in grindings for at least 12 years, dropping 17.8 percent from the same period last year. Arabica futures on ICE were slightly lower, digesting Thursday's gains after closing above key technical levels, with September fell 2.00 cents, or 1.1 percent, to close at $1.8695 per lb. Price differentials for Brazilian beans eased in Europe's cash coffee market on sluggish demand as roasters were reluctant to step in because of high prices, traders said. Robusta coffee futures on Liffe ended down with September falling by $5 to $2,187 a tonne.

cameroon cocoa production forecast 2012-2013

coffee prices today - cameroon cocoa production forecast 2012-2013 : Cameroon's cocoa output for the 2011/12 season is expected to be between 10 percent and 15 percent lower than the previous season, a senior official from the National Cocoa and Coffee Board told Reuters.

"We foresee cocoa production this season falling by 25,000 tonnes to 40,000 tonnes, if not more, because of changing climatic conditions and attacks by pests in the main growing regions," the official, who asked not to be named, said on the sidelines of a seminar in the city of Eseka.

Production hit a record of 240,000 tonnes in 2010/11, largely a result of improved farming techniques, good weather and the introduction of high-yielding tree varieties.

The drop is in line with an earlier forecast by the International Cocoa Organisation, which suggested that Cameroon's output will dip to 200,000 tonnes this season.

The cocoa season for the world's fifth-largest grower runs from August 1 to July 31, with the main harvest from October to January/February and the mid-crop from May to July.

"There have been very few beans on the market over the past two months because of the poor harvest compared with last year," said Emmanuel Nnogo Akolo, who heads a farmer co-operative in the town of Emana in the Centre Region.

"For the first time ever, the dry season ran from October to mid-April - that is one month longer, and temperatures were particularly very high. This prevented plants from flowering properly and bearing fruit on time," he said.

Caterpillars invaded the prime growing areas of Konye and Mbongue in the South West this year. And an outbreak of capsid bugs in the Centre Region eventually spread south, increasing the impact on mid-crop harvests.

"As you may know, capsids are insects that attack trees, feed on the young branches and cause a lot of damage to crops," said James Lobe Mosima, vice-president of the National Association of Cocoa and Coffee Producers.

"They are very active when the young branches of trees just shoot out, and they spread out rapidly during dry periods. This was the case in all the leading growing regions of Cameroon, so production should fall."

The Centre and South West regions each account for 40 percent of Cameroon's cocoa bean output, the South for 15 percent and the East for 5 percent.

Cocoa Extends Gains in London After Stockpiles Drop

coffee prices today - Cocoa Extends Gains in London After Stockpiles Drop ; Cocoa gained for a fourth day in London and climbed to a two-month high in New York after falling stockpiles in Europe added to speculation that dry weather will curb supplies from West Africa.

Cocoa inventories with a valid grading certificate in European warehouses monitored by NYSE Liffe fell 1.8 percent since Jan. 9, exchange data yesterday showed. Prices in London have climbed 16 percent this year on speculation dry weather in Ivory Coast and Ghana will damage their so-called mid-crops set to be harvested through September.

“Lower stocks are supportive certainly at a time of concerns about the mid-crop in West Africa,” said Keith Flury, an analyst at Rabobank International in London.

Cocoa for March delivery climbed 0.3 percent to 1,596 pounds ($2,507) a metric ton at 10:19 a.m. in London on NYSE Liffe. Prices have jumped 7.6 percent in four days.

In New York, the March futures contract rose as much as 1.1 percent to $2,480 a ton on ICE Futures U.S., the highest price for a most-active contract since Nov. 18. Prices in New York have climbed 9.1 percent this week.

Ivory Coast’s mid-crop will be 260,000 tons, down from 300,000 tons last year, Rabobank estimates. Ivory Coast accounted for 36 percent of world cocoa production in 2010-11, estimates by the International Cocoa Organization show. The so- called main crop, the larger of the two annual crops, ends in March and the mid-crop usually starts in April, according to the ICCO, an industry group of 15 exporting countries and 29 importing nations, according to data on its website.

Higher cocoa prices boost Guan Chong’s profit

Higher cocoa prices boost Guan Chong’s profit ; PETALING JAYA: Cocoa processor Guan Chong's net profit received a boost from higher raw material prices with net profit for the quarter ended Dec 31, 2010 climbing to RM42.90 million from RM6.67 million in the previous corresponding quarter.

Revenue for the quarter under review surged 52.56% to RM332.30 million due to higher sales volume and market price of cocoa products.

The company said in an announcement to Bursa Malaysia on Monday that net profit was also supported by net gains arising from foreign exchange due to stronger ringgit, gain on commodity futures contracts and net fair value gains on foreign exchange derivatives.

Guan Chong also announced a first interim dividend of 2.25 sen net per ordinary share.

Ghana Farmers Begin Watch for Smuggled Ivory Coast Cocoa Beans

Ghana Farmers Begin Watch for Smuggled Ivory Coast Cocoa Beans : Ghana’s cocoa farmers have started monitoring the lengthy border between the world’s top two cocoa producers as a ban on exports of beans from neighboring Ivory Coast raises concern over smuggling of the chocolate ingredient.

“It is very likely that Ivorian farmers may want to bring in the beans,” said John Mensah, acting chief farmer in the south of Ghana’s Western region, which produces 54 percent of the country’s beans, said by phone from Enchi. “If they become seriously in need of money to survive, they will definitely look to Ghana.”

The political stalemate in Ivory Coast entered its third month as Laurent Gbagbo, the incumbent president who has ruled for a decade, refuses to cede power to Alassane Ouattara, the internationally recognized winner of the Nov. 28 presidential vote. Ouattara told exporters to halt shipments of cocoa and coffee until Feb. 23, in a bid to cut off funds to his rival.

“Some poor farmers that live near the border and have no other means of livelihood should want to sell the beans to nearby Ghanaian buyers,” Nana Adjei Damoah, deputy president of the Ghana Cocoa, Coffee and Sheanut Farmers Association, said in a phone interview Jan. 28. There haven’t been any reports of smuggling along the 668 kilometer (415 mile) border, he said.

Alhaji Mohammed Mumuni, Ghana’s foreign affairs minister, said Ivory Coast’s illegal cocoa could affect the quality of Ghanaian beans.

“If there are restrictions on the Ivory Coast, it’s likely that smuggling that has been going on along our border will intensify and therefore you will have more Ivorian cocoa coming into Ghana,” he said in an interview in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Jan. 28. “It will contaminate our cocoa.”

Mensah, who harvested about 500 bags on his farm this season, said he visited border communities last week and didn’t hear of reports of smuggling yet. Farmers have formed groups to monitor the frontier, he added.

“Government is very serious about this so farmers are not taking it lightly at all,” he said.

The post-election crisis reversed the tide of smuggled West African beans. In the 2009-10 harvest, Ghana lost as much as 100,000 metric tons of cocoa in illegal shipments to Ivory Coast, as farmers sought higher prices than could be fetched in the local market, where rates are fixed at the start of the season.

An increase in that price by a third, to 3,200 cedis ($2,043) per ton, at the beginning of the harvest in October helped halt the trade, Mensah said.

The Ghana Cocoa Board, which oversees the industry, hasn’t recorded any smuggling cases of Ivorian beans into Ghana, said Noah Amenyah, a spokesman. After Ouattara’s export ban started, the Accra-based board worked with security forces to increase border patrols, he said.

The Ivorian crisis sparked a rally in the international price of cocoa, with March-delivery beans climbing 16 percent on the NYSE Liffe exchange in London. The beans shed 18 pounds, or 0.8 percent, to 2,167 per ton by 12:58 p.m.

Ghana has already purchased more beans so far in the 2010- 11 crop than it did in the previous season, Amenyah said. Purchases from farmers reached 643,000 tons in the 15 weeks to Jan. 13, compared with 632,000 tons that purchased last year. Better weather, improved farming, and stemming smuggling are credited with the boost.