Cocoa rebounds from longest streak of fall in 50 years

LONDON: Cocoa rebounded from the longest slump in 50 years in New York on speculation lower prices would prompt processors to buy. Cocoa fell 19% in New York and 20% in London over the past two months as supplies from West Africa were better than initially estimated. Bean arrivals at the Ivory Coast ports of Abidjan and San Pedro were 4,28,200 tonne in the week ended December 4, up 16% from a year earlier, Natixis Commodity Markets said in a report on Thursday.

"After having corrected by such a degree in the past two months, I think the market is attracting attention from speculators who may see the price as undervalued and by the industry, which is interested in covering at these levels," Keith Flury, an analyst at Rabobank International in London, said on Friday by e-mail.

Cocoa for March delivery advanced 0.6% to $2,143 a tonne on ICE Futures US in New York by 10:42 am London time. Before Friday, the price fell for 11 consecutive days, the longest slump since at least 1961, according to Bloomberg data.

Cocoa for March delivery rose 0.6% to 1,377 pounds ($2,154) a tonne on NYSE Liffe in London. Output in Ivory Coast, the world's top producer, may be 1.43 million tonne in the year ending September 30, up 3.2% from its prior forecast, Ecobank Transnational, based in Lome, Togo, said in a report.