* Ivory Coat shipments to resume on Saturday
* Market bearish -traders
* Worries over long-term effects of Ivory Coast conflict
AMSTERDAM, May 6 (Reuters) - Europe's cash cocoa prices fell this week as part of a general sell-off in commodities markets and due to expectations for fresh shipments from Ivory Coast, although trade was thin, traders said.
Prices of all commodities, including mineral oil, metals, coffee, cocoa, and sugar plunged this week as investors headed for the exits on worries about weak global economic growth.
Markets stabilized on Friday after U.S. data showed jobs had risen by more than expected in April.
"We are riding the same wave as other commodities," one cocoa trader said.
On Thursday, ICE cocoa futures CCc2 slid over 4 percent as dealers said investors liquidated long positions and hedging weighed. [ID:nLDE74416F]
"There's been surprisingly little activity, even though the futures prices have come down," one trader said.
"A lot of people took cover when the situation in the Ivory Coast was heating up, and now they're just eating it - the extra cover that they had," he said.
Industry officials said Ivory Coast would resume exports on Saturday, more than three months after they were halted by the West African country's post-election political crisis. [ID:nLDE7450UJ]
Nearly half a million tonnes of cocoa has been held up at the West Africa country's ports by the conflict, which eased this month with the arrest of former president Laurent Gbagbo.
"The picture looks bearish. Shipping will resume in the next couple of days; mid-crop plants look good," one trader said.
But another trader expressed concern about long-tem effects of the conflict on cocoa supplies.
"I think at this point, the market is undervalued," one trader said. "It is not realistic to expect next season to be as good as this one, because infrastructure in Ivory Coast has been destroyed and many workers left farms to escape the conflict. It will take some time to recover."
Price ratios for cocoa butter, a key ingredient in chocolate, softened to around 1.20 times London bean contracts <0#LCC:>, against 1.24 times last week.
"We have seen cocoa butter demand picking up with lower prices, but demand for cocoa powder is still much stronger," he said. (Reporting by Ivana Sekularac; additional reporting by Sarah McFarlane in London; editing by Jane Baird)
(Source: http://af.reuters.com/article/ivoryCoastNews/idAFEUCOC120110506?sp=true)
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