London: ICE cocoa futures fell around 2 per cent Tuesday as forces loyal to Ivory Coast's presidential claimant Alassane Ouattara launched a major assault on the presidential palace, loosening Gbagbo's grip on power.
ICE raw sugar and arabica coffee futures eased, under pressure from a stronger dollar and weaker oil prices.
Forces loyal to Ivory Coast's presidential claimant Alassane Ouattara launched a major assault on the presidential palace yesterday, driving home their campaign to oust Laurent Gbagbo after UN and French helicopters left his military bases in flames.
ICE May cocoa was down $53 or 1.8 per cent at $2,967 (Dh10,896) a tonne at 11.51GMT.
Liffe May cocoa was down £40 (Dh238.4) or 2 per cent to £1,916 per tonne in modest volume of 2,837 lots.
"All the areas that are under attack are well away from the cocoa," a European-based fund analyst said.
"The ports have pretty much been unaffected as far as I'm aware... The port areas are quite a long way away from where any of the fighting has been going on. The cocoa stocks have not been affected as far as I'm aware."
Dealers voiced concerns over stores of around 500,000 tonnes of cocoa believed to have accumulated in Ivory Coast while exports are banned.
Mould risk
"The cocoa can be used. The problem is the longer it's stored at origin, there's a higher risk of mould becoming an issue and it will probably have to be blended with better quality cocoa," the fund analyst said.
The analyst added: "Once the fighting has stopped, within ten or 15 days you'll probably get cocoa coming out, vessels are being lined up. San Pedro (port) presumably could start sooner because they ought to be making the preparations now. You'd have to clear it with the Ouattara government, clear it with EU so that you're not falling foul of the EU sanctions."
