Cocoa prices settled higher on Wednesday as the market consolidated below last week's significant highs, with September ICE NY cocoa closing up 77 at a 1.33% gain and September ICE London cocoa up 34 at a 0.79% gain. Gains in London were limited by a rally in the British pound to a 7-week high, which undercuts cocoa priced in sterling. Traders now look to Thursday's Q2 cocoa grindings data from Asia, Europe, and North America for demand clues, with European grindings expected to fall 1.5% year-over-year, North American grindings expected to fall 1% year-over-year, but Asian grindings expected to jump 9% year-over-year. Recent heavy rains in Ivory Coast and Ghana have flooded roads and raised disease risks, threatening supplies, while Barry Callebaut reported its first sales increase in more than two years, signaling demand recovery. Rising ICE inventories to a 2-year high of 3,204,512 bags and a 21% year-over-year increase in Ivory Coast port shipments to 2.09 million metric tons in the current marketing year are bearish factors, but early surveys pointing to an 18% drop in the 2026/27 Ivory Coast main crop to 1.8 million metric tons provide support.
Barry Callebaut AGBarry Callebaut reported its first sales increase in more than two years, signaling demand recovery