Cocoa prices fell to a 2024 low

Cocoa prices on the New York Mercantile Exchange continued to fall, falling to their lowest level since February 2024. The decline was triggered by strong shipments to ports from Côte d’Ivoire, the world’s top producer, signaling better-than-expected supply prospects for the market, Bloomberg reported. Cocoa prices fell as much as 2.7% on Monday. They are now about 60% below their record high set in December last year. The decline comes amid expectations of a larger global surplus driven by improved production and weaker demand. Analysts said the recent pace of arrivals partly reflects higher carryover supplies from the previous average harvest, which has helped push up prices for farmers. There is also some production change, with about 110,000 tonnes of Ivorian shipments that were supposed to come from other African countries now arriving at Ivory Coast ports. Traders are keeping a close eye on West African shipments as farms in the region continue to recover from poor harvests ...