LONDON, MARCH 15, 2018 – A total of 78,280 tonnes of cocoa was tendered against the ICE March London cocoa contract, exchange data showed on Thursday.
The delivery against the March London contract, which expired on Wednesday, was primarily made up of 46,130 tonnes of cocoa from Cameroon and 18,080 tonnes from Ivory Coast.
Smaller volumes of cocoa from other origins, including Ecuador, Nigeria and Togo, were also tendered against the contract.
The buyers were BNP Paribas Commodity Futures Ltd (25,030 tonnes) and Sucden Financial Limited (53,250 tonnes).
The sellers were Societe Generale International Ltd (32,460 tonnes), JP Morgan Securities Plc (29,650 tonnes), BNP Paribas Commodity Futures Ltd (11,850 tonnes), INTL FCStone Financial Inc (3,040 tonnes), Marex Financial Limited (880 tonnes), Sucden Financial Limited (210 tonnes) and ADM Investor Services (190 tonnes).
The spot futures contract became increasingly attractive ahead of expiry, as a scarcity of quality West African beans in Europe dramatically widened differentials on the physical market.
However, open interest still dropped dramatically on Wednesday, with dealers noting buyers were still hesitant to take delivery due to lingering worries about receiving old or poor-quality cocoa from Cameroon.
