NY cocoa falls on stronger dollar, end of dock strike

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LONDON — New York cocoa futures on ICE were lower on Monday, retreating from the prior session’s six-month high, weighed by a stronger dollar and the end of a dock strike in top grower Ivory Coast, while coffee prices also fell.

COCOA

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* March New York cocoa fell 1% to $2,492 a tonne by 1454 GMT, retreating from Friday’s six-month peak of $2,577.

* Dealers said the end of a dock strike in top grower Ivory Coast helped to put the market on the defensive.

* March London cocoa fell 0.6% to 1,960 pounds a tonne.

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* Below-average rains mixed with sunshine in most of Ivory Coast’s cocoa-growing regions seen last week were encouraging for the development of the last stage of the October-to-March main crop, farmers said on Monday.

SUGAR

* March raw sugar rose 0.9% to 19.82 cents per lb, climbing back towards the previous session’s five-month peak of 19.85 cents.

* Dealers said the market was supported by talk that some Indian mills are seeking to renegotiate export contracts which were agreed when prices were lower.

* December white sugar, which expires on Tuesday, rose 1.8% to $576.70 a tonne.

* Dealers noted there was short-term supply tightness in the whites market and December’s premium to March had risen to around $37, up from $27 last week.

COFFEE

* March arabica coffee fell 2.2% to $1.6435 per lb.

* Dealers said a large inflow of arabica coffee into ICE-approved warehouses remained a bearish influence.

* ICE certified coffee stocks stood at 454,056 bags as of Nov. 11, climbing further from a 23-year low of 382,695 bags set on Nov. 3. There were 456,133 bags in Antwerp pending grading.

* January robusta coffee fell 1.6% to $1,807 a tonne. (Reporting by Nigel Hunt; Editing by Jan Harvey, Kirsten Donovan)