COMMODITIES-COFFEE: A Quiet Christmas Week on the London Markets
LONDON, Dic 30 (IPS) - All markets have been very quiet in the Christmas holiday period with only a few days of trading this week.
Friday, except in the case of cocoa, trading on the London Commodity Exchange (LCE) closed at midday.
Coffee ended trading in London Friday at 2,765 dollars a tonne for January delivery, 2,822 dollars a tonne for March. "There was hardly any interest," said one trader.
Wednesday, the commodity settled at 2,810 dollars a tonne for January, 2,844 dollars a tonne, with gains on the longer contract months rather than on the first position.
"Most of the buying was to do with investors and buyers squaring off their positions ahead of the end of the year," added the trader.
Thursday, it ended on the London Commodity Exchange at 2,823 dollars a tonne for January, 2,876 dollars a tonne for March, a slight rise.
Coffee has been losing its momentum recently as worries about a large crop failure in Brazil, the world's leading producer, have evaporated.
This has forced prices down from their giddy heights of the last few months and energised producers into restarting an export withholding plan to stimulate values again.
In the run up to Christmas, Latin American producers said they will start retaining 20 per cent of their exports in January. This reinforced prices, which gained in the latter part of December.
Cocoa saw some powerful activity in the pre-Christmas week as investors from large pension funds battled out with traders for dominance of the market.
Cocoa on the London Commodity Exchange closed on Wednesday at 982 pounds sterling a tonne for December delivery, a fall of 21 pounds, and 986 pounds sterling a tonne for March, a slight dip of seven pounds.
By Thursday's bell the commodity had bounced down to 972 pounds sterling a tonne for December, 984 pounds sterling a tonne for March.
By mid-afternoon Friday LCE cocoa was further down the range at 963 pounds sterling a tonne for December, 974 pounds sterling a tonne for March.
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