2024-03-26 10:46:00
The price of cocoa jumped to an unprecedented level, exceeding the level of $10,000 per ton in New York, as the global shortage of chocolate prices in the market worsened and the cost of chocolate increased. Futures rose as much as 4.1% to $10,047 in New York on Tuesday.
Futures have more than doubled this year to an all-time high, as poor harvests among large farmers in West Africa put the world on track for a third straight annual supply deficit. The market is grappling with the legacy of poor returns paid to cocoa farmers and concerns are growing about the ability to obtain enough beans.
- Bad news for consumers
That’s bad news for consumers if chocolate makers continue to raise costs or sell bars that are smaller or contain less chocolate. The looming Easter holiday is a peak period for chocolate consumption, and the time lag between commodity and retail markets means the brunt of the impact on shoppers is still to come.
The rally has pushed the technical price gauge into overbought territory for most of the past two months, although cocoa continues to rise.
The focus now turns to the next medium crop in West Africa, the smaller of two annual crops. Bloomberg reported that the regulatory body for the largest producer in Ivory Coast expects the season to shrink this season.
“The supply situation in West Africa remains very tight with the start of the intermediate harvest season next week, and this continues to support cocoa prices,” the Hightower report said in a note. (Bloomberg)
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