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CSCE cocoa lower, despite bullish UK grind

NEW YORK: CSCE cocoa settled sharply lower in choppy trade on Tuesday, pressured by speculative profit taking and trade selling after a short-lived rally earlier on stronger-than-expected UK grind figures unraveled, dealers said.

Biscuit, Cake, Chocolate and Confectionery Alliance said Tuesday that UK first-quarter 1996 cocoa grind jumped 16.3 percent to 50,500 tonnes versus the same period in 1995. Industry experts had forecast a rise between five and 10 percent in the UK grind.

May cocoa settled down $21 at $1,310 per tonne after trading between $1,333 and $1,307. July ended $13 lower at $1,329, with the rest down $9 to $16.

A trader said the market here was pressured as many players rolled out of May prior to first notice day April 17.

"There's a perception that speculators are long," he said.

Traders await German cocoa grind figures due Wednesday.

Volume reached an estimated 16,563, up from Monday's official volume of 5,673.-Reuter