The rainy season and fears about bad weather pushed cocoa prices to 46-year highs at the Intercontinental Exchange in London. Threats to the production prospects of major cocoa suppliers are pushing prices higher: the benchmark September contract for cocoa in London gained more than 2% yesterday, to 3,001.34 euros per tonne, according to Reuters. The session high was the highest price since 1977 at €3,005.98. Cocoa prices also increased on the New York stock exchange: the September contract gained 2.7% to 3,348 dollars a ton, the highest in 7 and a half years.
Prices are rising in response to a tight market for cocoa beans, mainly produced in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana: Cocoa arrivals at Côte d’Ivoire’s ports for export have fallen by almost 5% in this season. The International Cocoa Organization (ICCO) expanded its forecast of the global cocoa supply shortfall this month, to 142,000 tonnes from a previously forecast 60,000 tonnes – it’s the second season in a row with a supply shortfall and inventory-to-consumption ratio , an indicator of cocoa availability on the market, is expected to fall to 32.2%, the lowest since the 1984/85 season.
Meanwhile, above-average rainfall in Côte d’Ivoire is causing flooding in some cocoa fields, potentially damaging the main crop which starts in October. But the rains are also affecting the drying process of the cocoa beans that have already been harvested.
Refinitiv Commodities Research said it expected “moderate to heavy” rainfall in the so-called West African cocoa belt over the next 10 days. [Da Redazione InfoAfrica]
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