ICE cocoa at fresh 32-year high on I.Coast unrest

ICE cocoa prices hit a fresh 32-year high of $3,706 a tonne in early trading on Tuesday, as fighting intensified in top producer Ivory Coast.

Political events in the country have taken a turn for the worse, with reported fighting between troops loyal to President Laurent Gbagbo and Presidential claimant Alassane Ouattara, who is internationally recognised to have won the November 2010 presidential elections, Abah Ofon, analyst at Standard Chartered Bank said.

Political risk could snowball into a cocktail of risks, including production risks, the longer the crisis lasts.

Benchmark May cocoa futures traded up $5, or 0.1 percent, at $3,698 a tonne at 0912 GMT.