France: The cocoa deficit would be 142,000 tons and not 60,000 tons this campaign

The current 2022/23 cocoa campaign should not be in deficit by 60,000 tonnes (t) as initially estimated but more than double, at 142,000 t, the International Cocoa Organization (ICCO) announced yesterday by publishing its Bulletin quarterly statistics. Global 2022/23 production is expected to increase by 3.4% to 4.98 million tonnes (Mt) despite yields which "are likely to be affected by weather conditions such as the threat of El Niño as well as by other factors such as diseases, fertilizer inputs, cultural practices, among others”, indicates the Organization. If grindings - demand - are expected to increase by only 1.5%, they should reach 5.072 Mt this campaign. This good performance is mainly to be attributed to “recent efforts by the main producing countries to turn to downstream products instead of exporting raw cocoa beans. Indeed, cocoa processing has held up well in the origins, which may have led to ...