Cocoa prices drop again as buyers hold back in troubled market

Cocoa prices dropped again, extending a week of extreme volatility as liquidity dries up and commercial buyers hold back from buying beans.

Futures slid as much as 7.4% to $7,670 a ton in New York, the lowest since mid-March, and also slumped in London. A liquidity crunch has upended the market as it became more expensive for traders to maintain their positions.

The cash crunch is also forcing traders to delay bean purchases from the world’s largest producers, Bloomberg reported Wednesday. Buying more physical cocoa would require them to hedge their purchases in the futures market, just as the spike in volatility forces them to put up more money to cover margin calls.

“Indications that commercial firms are delaying some of their purchases of West African cocoa until next season has pressured the cocoa market,” the Hightower Report said.

Cocoa was last down 6.7% at $7,729 in New York.