To a historical high: Why have world prices for cocoa beans tripled over the past year

Published 2024년 3월 25일

Tridge summary

World cocoa bean prices have reached a historic peak, with a ton now costing over $9.6 thousand due to a global shortage exacerbated by poor harvests in West Africa, smuggling, aging cocoa infrastructure, and new EU deforestation laws. This shortage has led to a projected 11% drop in production and a significant increase in the global cocoa deficit. These factors, along with geopolitical tensions and higher logistics costs, are expected to drive up chocolate prices by year's end. However, experts believe the situation could stabilize by 2025 with improved weather and increased West African harvests, potentially reducing cocoa prices from their current highs. Despite these global trends, Russia has only seen a modest increase in chocolate prices over the past year.

Disclaimer:The above summary was generated by Tridge's proprietary AI model for informational purposes.

Original content

On Monday, March 25, world prices for cocoa beans again reached a historical high. During trading on the ICE exchange, the cost of 1 ton of raw materials rose by 7.9% and for the first time over the entire period of observation exceeded $9.6 thousand. Since the beginning of 2024, cocoa on the international market has already more than doubled in price, and over the past 12 months prices have increased by three times. Experts explain the observed dynamics by the growing shortage of goods in the world. Thus, according to the forecast of the International Cocoa Organization (ICCO), in the current agricultural season (started on October 1, 2023), global production of beans risks decreasing by almost 11% - to 4.45 million tons. As a result, the global shortage of these products may increase by five times compared to the previous season - up to 374 thousand tons. “The first reason is a poor harvest in West Africa, which accounts for 60% of world cocoa production. Extreme rainfall and ...

Source: Russianrt