New boom for Ecuador - cocoa price breaks record and is already close to USD 10,000 per ton

Published 2024년 3월 26일

Tridge summary

The price of cocoa has soared to a historic high, exceeding USD 9,649 per metric ton and surpassing copper prices for the first time since 2003, primarily due to reduced production in Ivory Coast and Ghana, which are major cocoa suppliers, because of diseases and climate issues. The surge is also influenced by the European Commission Regulation 1115, aiming to ban imports of raw materials produced on deforested lands, including cocoa, which is expected to further increase prices. Despite challenges such as exporter liquidity in Ecuador due to the price hike, the country is seeing benefits from high prices paid directly to producers and is on track to significantly boost its cocoa exports, potentially reaching USD 1.8 to 2 billion in 2024, thereby becoming the nation's third-largest non-oil export. Additionally, the country has witnessed a 5% annual increase in production per hectare over the last five years, attributed to private sector efforts, reduction in deforestation, and the absence of child labor, as per Anecacao.

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

Original content

The price of a metric ton of cocoa exceeds USD 9,649, a historical figure never seen before. "Although there was a similar increase in the price of cocoa during the 1970s, it did not reach current levels," says the executive director of the National Association of Cocoa Exporters and Industrialists of Ecuador (Anecacao), Merlyn Casanova. . Prices began to skyrocket since January 2024 and it is expected that in the coming weeks they will continue to reach historical prices, although uncertainty in the market has also increased. The price of cocoa even surpassed the price of copper for the first time since 2003. Copper was around USD 7,300 per metric ton on March 23, 2024. The causes The exorbitant prices of cocoa have their origin in a drop in the harvest in the African countries of Ivory Coast and Ghana, responsible for 60% of world production of the grain. Ivory Coast is the largest producer of cocoa in the world, with a volume of almost seven million tons of beans per year, ...

Source: Primicias