* Coffee falls on investor liquidation
* Brazil sugar harvest delays underpin prices
* Cocoa industry cover seen comfortable - trade
(Adds trade comment, updates prices)
By Sarah McFarlane and David Brough
LONDON, April 4 (Reuters) - ICE cocoa futures were little changed on Monday, underpinned by a standoff between presidential rivals in top grower Ivory Coast.
As fighters loyal to rivals Laurent Gbagbo and Alassane Ouattara held their respective positions across the main city Abidjan, expectations of a quick resolution to the conflict ebbed. The impasse has brought exports to a virtual halt.
ICE raw sugar Cocoa prices were higher after market expectations of a
resolution to Ivory Coast's conflict were not met. "On Friday some big cities were being controlled by
Ouattara's soldiers and everybody was expecting Abidjan to fall
during the weekend. It didn't, so the market has bounced," a
London-based broker said. "Predicting the cocoa market these days is as easy as
flipping a coin. "There's still a risk premium in the market due to the
political tensions in Ivory Coast. "If the situation was to come back to normal we would see
the market coming back down to around 1,850 pounds a tonne. "Industry cover is at around six months which is fairly
standard ... it's fairly comfortable." ICE May cocoa futures were down $5 or 0.2 percent to $3,006
a tonne by 1234 GMT. Liffe July cocoa was down 10 pounds or 0.5 percent to 1,940
pounds a tonne in slim volume of 1,589 lots. ICE arabica and robusta coffee fell on investor liquidation
in modest volumes. "We've seen a fairly big amount of speculator liquidation in
New York and London," the London-based broker said. The widening spread between London and New York prices could
relate to Brazil's impending frost season which can see a risk
premium become factored into arabica prices. "The weather risk will start to be factored into prices,"
the broker said. "We are bullish arabicas," the broker said, adding
Colombia's production will remain below historic averages, while
the outlook for coffee demand was strong. In robustas the May premium over July collapsed to around
$30, after trading as wide as around $200 last month, as selling
pressure weighed. "There's been both selling of May flat prices and the
May/July switch," a London-based broker said. ICE May arabica coffee fell 0.6 cent or 0.2 percent to
$2.5930 per lb at 1235 GMT GMT, while Liffe May coffee was down
$82 or 3.4 percent to $2,339 per tonne in moderate turnover of
6,300 lots. BRAZIL CANE HARVEST DELAY Raw sugar futures on ICE rose, tracking gains in other
commodity markets, such as oil and grains, and dealers saw key
resistance at 28.00-28.20 cents a lb. "It seems safer to sell a rally than buy a dip at present,"
said Thomas Kujawa of brokerage Sucden Financial. ICE May raw sugar futures rose 0.63 cent or 2.3 percent to
28.07 cents a lb at 1236 GMT. New York sugar remains technically neutral as a
consolidation between 26.37 cents to 28.20 cents per lb
continues, Reuters market analyst Wang Tao said. Liffe May white sugar was up $10.70 or 1.5 percent to
$723.90 per tonne in light turnover of 2,664 lots. Dealers kept a close watch on the harvest outlook in top
producer Brazil. Rains have caused harvest delays in some areas. "The delay in the Brazilian harvest and a long tail (late
harvesting) in Thailand are cancelling each other out in terms
of their market impact," one sugar futures dealer said.
(Additional reporting by Nigel Hunt; editing by James Jukwey)