ICE cocoa futures eased on Thursday as dealers locked in gains from this week's four-month highs as attention focused on potential supply risks due to a political impasse in Ivory Coast after a disputed election. ICE raw sugar eased, underpinned by uncertainty over how much sugar India will export to help relieve a shortfall before Brazil's next harvest in 2011, while ICE arabica coffee firmed, supported by tight supplies of high-quality arabicas.
ICE second-month cocoa prices reversed early gains to trade slightly lower, as the knee-jerk reaction which triggered prices to rise to a four-month high of $3,140 per tonne on Tuesday on political tensions in top producer Ivory Coast lost momentum. March cocoa futures on ICE were down $18 or 0.6 percent at $3,017 a tonne at 1627 GMT, within sight of the four-month peak. ICE March raw sugar futures were down 0.26 cent or 0.9 percent at 28.72 cents a lb at 1634 GMT. ICE March arabicas were up 0.50 cent or 0.24 percent at $2.0515 per lb at 1635 GMT.