Cocoa prices surge on output fears over Ebola outbreak

FE Team | Published: September 28, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00

LONDON, Sept 27 (AFP) : Cocoa soared to 3.5-year highs this week on fears the Ebola outbreak could reach Ghana and Ivory Cost, the two biggest producers of the commodity used to make chocolate.
Brent oil prices however tumbled to two-year lows on worries over ample supplies and weak demand, and on the back of the strong dollar.
Commodity markets also digested news that the US economy-a key consumer of raw materials-grew more strongly than thought in the second quarter. Gross domestic product surged at an annual rate of 4.6 per cent. That was the fastest since late 2011 and revised from 4.2 per cent.
COCOA: Prices rocketed to levels last seen in spring 2011 as traders fretted over the deadly Ebola virus outbreak in West Africa, home to most of the world's production.
Over the past fortnight, cocoa prices jumped by about ten per cent as fears escalated that the epidemic could spread to top exporters Ghana and Ivory Coast.
The market rallied Thursday to £2,187 per tonne in London and $3,399 per tonne in New York, the highest points for three and a half years.
Health systems in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea have been overwhelmed by the epidemic, which has infected more than 6,200 people in west Africa and killed nearly half of them since late last year.
OIL: Brent prices dived Wednesday to $95.60 -- the lowest level since July 2012 -- on worries over abundant crude supplies, poor global economic data and a weaker demand outlook.
Losses were capped somewhat by worries over US-led airstrikes against jihadists in the oil-rich Middle East, and after news of a surprisingly heavy drop in US crude inventories.
The Department of Energy said Wednesday that US crude inventories fell 4.3 million barrels in the week ending September 19, confounding forecasts of an increase.
PRECIOUS METALS: Gold sank to an eight-month low point as traders took their cue from the rallying dollar.
Gold on Thursday dropped to $1,206.83 an ounce-the lowest level since January. At the same time, sister-metal silver hit a four-year low at $17.33 an ounce.
The single currency briefly dived even lower on Friday following the upbeat US GDP data, hitting $1.2678 -- its lowest level since November 2012.
A stronger greenback makes dollar-priced gold and commodities more expensive for buyers using weaker currencies. That tends to dent demand and push prices lower.
BASE METALS: Base or industrial metal prices diverged amid better-than-expected Chinese manufacturing data.
HSBC's flash purchasing managers index (PMI) for the Chinese manufacturing sector came in at 50.5 in September, up from a final reading of 50.2 in August.
SUGAR: Futures rebounded from a four-year low hit the previous week.
By Friday on LIFFE, the price of a tonne of white sugar for delivery in December traded at $427.60 compared with $412.10 a week earlier.
COFFEE: Prices drifted lower in subdued deals.
By Friday on ICE Futures US, Arabica for delivery in December fell to 181.60 US cents a pound from 181.95 cents a week earlier.
On LIFFE, Robusta for November declined $1,946 a tonne from $1,950 a week earlier.
RUBBER: Kuala Lumpur prices receded.
The Malaysian Rubber Board's benchmark SMR20 stood at 145.95 US cents per kilo on Friday, down from 152.85 US cents the previous week.