US MIDDAY: cocoa sinks

US cocoa futures sank Tuesday to a 2-month low on technical sales and news that rebels in top grower Ivory Coast have taken control of an area that grows about half the country's cocoa crop. Volume in US cocoa futures soared to more than 31,500 lots, a 7-week high, Thomson Reuters preliminary data showed, and the loftiest since February, as the crisis in Ivory Coast worsened into virtual civil war between leadership rivals Alassane Ouattara and incumbent Laurent Gbagbo.
New York's May cocoa futures fell $191, or 5.88 percent, to settle at $3,057 per tonne. Cocoa volume traded on ICE Futures US reached more than 30,000 lots, its highest level in 6-1/2 weeks, Thomson Reuters preliminary data showed. New York's May arabica coffee futures fell 2.50 cents to close at $2.6145 per lb. The May raw sugar futures shed 0.03 cent to finish at 27.02 cents per lb.