US cocoa futures closed at a fresh one-year high on Tuesday as major exporters heeded to a call to ban exports from top grower Ivory Coast, but the rally may be overdone. Six major exporters of cocoa from Ivory Coast - including Cargill, the top exporter of Ivorian beans - are heeding presidential claimant Alassane Ouattara's call for a ban, a move designed to cut funds to incumbent leader Laurent Gbagbo.
New York's March cocoa contract on ICE Futures US gained $23 to finish at $3,335 per tonne, the highest close for the spot contract since January 2010. As it did on Monday, the contract ended well below the session top of $3,365. Volume in the US cocoa market was heavy at around 21,700 lots, over 60 percent above the 30-day norm, Thomson Reuters preliminary data showed.
Sugar and coffee futures fell, caught up in a drop in the commodities complex, as markets fretted about economic tightening in Asia, a key consumer of raw materials. The March raw sugar contract dropped 0.47 cent to end at 31.84 cents per lb. Coffee futures fell, remaining rangebound after falling from the 13-1/2-year high at $2.4450 per lb on January 12. The March arabica coffee contract fell 6.05 cents to end at $2.3125 per lb.
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