Cocoa prices fall to their lowest level in two years in London; coffee prices plummet.
Cocoa on the London exchange fell 208 pounds, or 6,7%, closing at 2.885 pounds per ton.
NEW YORK, Jan 28 (Reuters) - Cocoa futures in London fell to their lowest level in two years on Wednesday, with weak demand leading to increased stockpiles in producing countries, while coffee and sugar prices also declined.
COCOA
* Cocoa on the London exchange fell 208 pounds, or 6,7%, closing at 2.885 pounds per tonne, after hitting a two-year low of 2.835 pounds.
Traders said there was ongoing concern about weak demand, leading to an increase in unsold cocoa stocks in Ivory Coast and Ghana.
Ghana's cocoa regulator, COCOBOD, is open to other financing options, including a return to international syndicated loans, after a self-financing system left farmers unpaid and exposed the weaknesses of the world's second-largest cocoa producer.
Traders said a weak dollar helped limit losses for cocoa in New York, which fell 6,4% to $4.150 a ton, but remained above last week's two-year low of $4.054.
QUATROGRANOS
Arabica coffee fell 16,25 cents, or 4,4%, to $3,51 per pound, erasing much of the gains from the last five sessions.
"It seems like it was just a short-lived recovery," said a US-based trader, adding that the general perception is of a lower market towards the end of the year, due to prospects of higher production in Brazil, the largest producer.
Traders said that the weather in Brazil was more favorable than a year ago and that Arabica production in the next 2026 harvest should be higher.
Robusta coffee fell 3%, to US$4.145 per ton.
SUGAR
* Raw sugar fell 0,12 cents, or 0,8%, to 14,71 cents per pound.
Traders said the market remains stuck in a range of about 14,50 cents to 15,00 cents, in the absence of any major news on market fundamentals.
* White sugar fell 0,2%, to US$412,20 per ton.
(Reporting by Nigel Hunt and Marcelo Teixeira)