SOFTS-Cocoa hits eight-month low on weak demand data; sugar up on Coke

NEW YORK, July 17 (Reuters) - Cocoa futures on ICE fell more than 4% to their lowest in more than eight months on Thursday after worse-than-expected demand data from Europe and Asia.

Sugar futures rose in part due to possible higher use in the United States, while coffee retreated.

COCOA

London cocoa LCCc1 ​​settled down 258 pounds, or 5.1%, to 4,803 pounds per ton, having hit its lowest since late October at $4,698.

New York cocoa CCc1 lost 4.3% to $7,309 a ton, after touching its lowest since early November at $6,700.

Data earlier showed Europe's second-quarter cocoa grind, a measure of demand, fell 7.2% from a year earlier to its lowest since the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Asia's second-quarter grind fell by 16.3%

Dealers noted that the Asia figure was the lowest since 2017 and that the Europe figure was below market expectations.

Barry Callebaut BARN.S, by far the world's largest chocolatier, this month cut its volume guidance for the year to August 31 by 7%, saying high cocoa prices and uncertainty over U.S. tariffs had prompted its customers to buy less.

COFFEE

Arabica coffee KCc2 settled down 1.25 cents, or 0.4%, at $3.072 per lb, having hit a three-week high of $3.0995 on Wednesday.

Robusta coffee fell 3.4% at $3,312 a ton.

Coffee prices, especially arabica, have been rallying since the U.S. said last week it will impose 50% tariffs on all imports from top coffee grower Brazil come August 1.

On Wednesday, however, Brazilian coffee exporters group Cecafe said there are advanced discussions over the 50% tariff and it was not working with the hypothesis of a break in the supply of coffee to the U.S.

About a third of U.S. coffee comes from Brazil and the tariffs, if they transpire, would all but halt the flow of Brazilian beans to the U.S., the world's top coffee drinker.

Separately, Cecafe said that Brazilian green coffee exports in June fell 31% from a year earlier and were down 5.4% in the full 2024/25 July-June coffee season.

SUGAR

Raw sugar SBc1 settled up 0.18 cent, or 1.1%, at 16.74 cents per lb while white sugar LSUc1 gained 1.1% to $484.00 a ton.

U.S. President Donald Trump said Coca-Cola KO.N had agreed to use cane sugar in its beverages in the United States. Coca-Cola produced for the U.S. market is typically sweetened with corn syrup.

Dealers said the news was one factor behind sugar gains on Thursday.