Cocoa prices continue to lead the decline

According to the Vietnam Commodity Exchange (MXV), the world raw material market had mixed developments in yesterday's trading session (October 24).

Closing, the MXV-Index decreased slightly by 0.06% to 2,182 points. Notably, 7 out of 9 industrial raw materials, including coffee, were in red. In addition, the metal market also had a divergent performance but the fluctuations were not large.

Thị trường hàng hóa hôm nay ngày 25/10: Giá ca cao tiếp tục dẫn dắt đà giảm

MXV-Index

Cocoa prices continue to lead the decline

On the industrial raw material price list, cocoa prices continued to lead the decline of the industrial raw material group after losing 3.5% in yesterday's session. Notably, the downward pressure came from the prospect of improved crops and exports from Ivory Coast - the world's largest cocoa producer and exporter.

Industrial raw material price list

Specifically, the Coffee and Cocoa Council (CCC) has raised the estimate of Ivory Coast's cocoa production in the 2024-2025 crop year to 2.1-2.2 million tons, up 10% compared to the same period last year thanks to favorable weather conditions. At the same time, according to exporters' estimates, in the first 20 days of the 2024-2025 crop year, the amount of cocoa arriving in this country reached 193,000 tons, up 13.5% compared to the same period last year.

Meanwhile, cotton prices also fell 0.63% due to strong U.S. cotton export data. According to the export report for the week of October 11-17, U.S. cotton sales reached 169,700 bales, up 6% from the previous week and 57% higher than the four-week average. Meanwhile, cotton exports reached 98,400 bales, up 70% and 16% from the previous week and the four-week average, respectively.

Metal market is divided.

At the end of yesterday's trading day, the metal market was mixed, with all commodities recording low fluctuations, changing no more than 0.1% compared to the reference level.

Specifically, for precious metals, silver prices fell slightly by 0.13% to $33.79/ounce, while platinum prices recovered by 0.38% to $1,033.6/ounce. In the context of mixed fundamental information, precious metal prices were clearly differentiated.

Metal price list

On the one hand, concerns about the uncertainty surrounding the upcoming US presidential election, along with the conflict in the Middle East, are still pushing investors to hold precious metals as a risk-off tool, thereby supporting prices. On the other hand, in the context of the US economy continuing to receive more positive signals, the role of precious metals as a haven is gradually losing its position as the market shifts money to other risky investment channels such as the US stock market.

In addition, the US Department of Labor reported yesterday that the number of people filing for unemployment benefits in the US for the first time fell to 227,000 last week. In addition, a preliminary report from S&P Global showed that US business activity continued to improve in October, with the manufacturing and services purchasing managers' indexes (PMIs) reaching 47.8 and 55.3 points, respectively, both higher than expectations and the previous month's figures.

For base metals, all commodities experienced a fairly narrow session of fluctuations. The most notable development was the LME zinc price, which increased by 0.97% to 3,174.5 USD/ton - the highest level in the past 20 months.

Zinc prices have rallied recently, largely due to concerns about supply disruptions. According to Bloomberg, the leading zinc producer Teck Resources has lowered its production target after a fire broke out at its Canadian smelter. Specifically, Teck said its refined zinc output this year could be as much as 12% lower than previously expected, equivalent to a reduction of about 40,000 tons. In this context, although a reduction of 40,000 tons does not have a huge impact when the global supply is about 14 million tons, this comes at a time when there are many concerns about supply disruptions.

Prices of some other goods