COFFEE
* May arabica coffee futures fell 0.80 cent to close at $2.7380 per lb.
* May/July spreading contributed to the day's heavy volume
ahead of the spot contract's first notice day April 20.
* Market was firm on tight supplies and strengthening chart-based signals, but turned negative on spillover pressure as the Reuters-Jefferies CRB index <.CRB> fell about 2 percent when oil slumped - traders.
* Brazil is set to gather a good quality coffee crop during the world's biggest harvest, starting in mid-May, helped by improved rains and increased spending to boost yields - producers.
* Mexican coffee producers may be hoarding their beans to see whether record prices push even higher, adding to a supply squeeze that helped propel the coffee market to a 34-year peak last month.
COCOA
* Key July cocoa futures gained $28 to finish at $3,056 a tonne.
* May/July position rolling ahead of first notice day for May on April 15 - traders.
* Industry buying lifted the market, while the rest of the commodity complex was lower, as commercials secured supplies in anticipation of exports resuming from Ivory Coast, the world's top cocoa producer - traders.
* Technically, support around $2,950, basis July, gave the market a short-term bounce - Shawn Hackett, of Hackett Financial Advisors in Florida.
* Ivory Coast's internationally recognized president, Alassane Ouattara, called for peace after his rival was arrested with the help of French forces, but he faces a huge task reuniting a country shattered by civil war.
* French container shipping group CMA CGM is to resume services to Ivory Coast, with a first ship due to arrive in Abidjan on April 18.
Source : Reuters
