Noticias cacao 25 junio

DJ ICE Cocoa Review: Ends Mixed In Consolidation
NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Cocoa prices ended little changed Friday as the market
consolidated recent gains.

Nearby cocoa for July delivery cocoa settled $8, or 0.3%, higher at $3,092 a
metric ton. The most actively traded September contract settled $1, or 0.03%,
lower at $3,113.

Cocoa prices rose 5.5% this week on buying from speculative funds like banks
and hedge funds. The market is in a slow seasonal period when news from both
the supply and demand fronts is lacking. Consumers eat less chocolate during
the summer in the Northern Hemisphere. At the same time, incoming supplies are
cyclically lighter from West Africa--the top production region.

During the April-through-September period, cocoa traders closely track
outside factors like the technical charts used to plot market direction.
Bullish technical outlooks gave cocoa a boost in the last week.

"Funds are jumping in on technical buying," said James Cordier, analyst and
founder of OptionSellers.com.

Cocoa hit a seven-week high in the previous session. The market paused Friday
to digest recent gains.

Most of the gains are from fund buyers, though some commercial traders, or
end users, have been buying at current levels, Cordier said.

In the long run, consumption of cocoa is forecast to rise, which is keeping
cocoa prices generally supported.

Netherlands-based Fortis Bank said Friday it projects world cocoa
grindings--a measure of consumption--for the coming 2010-11 season to rise by
or 2.6%, from the year before to 3.7 million tons. In the coming
October-through-September season, worldwide production is expected to rise 7.1%
to 3.8 million tons from an estimated 3.5 million tons this year, the bank
said.

In late May, the International Cocoa Organization pegged global supplies
69,000 tons short of consumption in the current season. Rising demand is
outpacing modest supply growth to 3.596 million tons in the same time frame,
the ICCO said. Global cocoa grindings--a measure of consumption--are seen 4%
higher on the year at 3.629 million tons, according to the organization.

Long spells of rain in top cocoa producer Ivory Coast are benefiting trees in
the primary production belt there.

Extended rains can also lead to crop diseases that cut down production.
Diseases like black pod thrive in the damp conditions of the main rainy season,
especially where cocoa trees haven't been treated. Distribution of free
government pesticides is already well behind schedule.

Cordier said disease threat is a premature worry at the moment.

ICE cocoa open interest--the number of active positions left at the end of
the session--decreased by 220 positions Thursday to total 114,965, the exchange
reported.

Volume through the settlement was estimated at 9,728 contracts, according to
exchange data. In options, approximately 15 calls and 21 puts traded on the
floor in the same timeframe.

Close Change Range (To the point of settlement)
Jly $3,092 +$8 $3,087-$3,106
Sep $3,113 -$1 $3,064-$3,130


-By Holly Henschen, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-461-2138;
holly.henschen@dowjones.com