Recasts, updates prices
LONDON, June 25 (Reuters) –Cocoa prices on ICE steadied on Tuesday after plunging earlier in the sessionas the market remains thinly traded, with somefunds that follow technical signals liquidating their long positions after cocoa lost nearly 10% of its value last week.
COCOA
*September London cocoa LCCc2 rose 1.1% to6,709pounds to metric ton at 1514 GMT, after sliding down more than 10% earlier and closing down 9.6% on Monday.
*September New York cocoa CCc2 slipped 0.2% to $7,896 Ton, after plunging more than 10% earlier andhaving closed down 11.1% on Monday.
* ICE cocoa speculators cut their net long position by 975 contracts to 13,585 in the week to June 18, data showed.
* Dealers said commercial and fund selling was weighing on cocoa, and noted that weather conditions In West Africa currently seem to be favourable for the upcoming 2024/25 (October-September) crop.
* Be that as it may, the cocoa market remains extremely tight on a fundamental basis, they said, with the stocks-to-consumption ratio widely expected to hit a record low level at the end of the current season.
*In news, No. 2 cocoa producers Ghana has reached an agreement in principle with two bondholder groups to restructure around $13 billion of its debt, in a deal intended to give the country a path to economic recovery.
COFFEE
*September robusta coffee LRCc2 fell 3.3% to $4.114 a ton, having hit a record high of $4,394 this month.
* Vietnamese coffee growers have been hit hard this year by the worst drought in nearly a decade, raising concerns of priceless espressos across the world, even as some farmers keep yields healthy with clever countermeasures.
* September arabica coffee KCc2 fell 3.2% to $2.2865 per lb.
SUGAR
*July raw sugar SBc1 was down 2.4% at 18.94 cents per lb.
* August white sugar LSUc1 fell 2% to $558.60 to ton.
Reporting by Maytaal Angel; Editing by Jason Neely and Shailesh Kuber
