COFFEE AND COCOA FORECAST FOR TODAY AND MARKET CLOSING REVIEW 1 MAR 2011

- U.S. cocoa futures closed lower Tuesday in a session which saw it hit a fresh 32-year top before bean values plunged and then came roaring back in a span of two minutes during trading.
Raw sugar declined as the trade digested deliveries in the expired March raw sugar contract and coffee slipped in mostly quiet dealings.
RAW SUGAR
* The benchmark May raw sugar contract fell 0.19 cent to close at 29.26 cents per lb.
* Traders said no major issues came up after exchange turned on order matching engine in an attempt to curb excessive speculation.
* Market digested deliveries of about 965,000 tonnes of raw sugar against expired March raw sugar contract.
* "Sugar is backing and filling at this time," said Sterling Smith, an analyst for brokers Country Hedging Inc.
* Market took note of news that merchant Czarnikow raised its forecast for a global sugar deficit in 2010/11 to 3.7 million tonnes. [ID:nLDE7202B0]

COFFEE
* May arabica coffee futures fell 2.40 cents to settle at $2.693 per lb.
* Modest speculative profit-taking seen in overbought arabica futures - dealers.
* Tight supplies underpinned prices - traders.
* Total open interest reached 122,885 lots on Feb. 28, the lowest level since March 15, 2010 - ICE data.
* The spot March contract ended the day at a par to second position May to close at $2.7170 per lb.

COCOA
* Benchmark May cocoa futures dropped $75 or by 2.03 percent to close at $3,620 per tonne.
* On Monday, the contract ended at $3,695, the highest close since January 1979.
* May premium to July closed at $47, narrowing further from $61 on Monday.
* The market tumbled more than $450 in 60 seconds and then rebounded $349 the next minute, forcing the exchange to cancel some trades. [ID:nN01424852]
* Market focus still on political turmoil in top producer Ivory Coast.
source: https://portal.hpd.global.reuters.com/auth/login.aspx