Cocoa Market Report for July 2022

Abidjan, 18 August 2022 – The International Cocoa Organization releases the Cocoa Market Report for July 2022. The current report highlights the following insights:

  • Data published by the main regional cocoa associations indicated an increase in grindings in Q2.2022 in Europe and South-East Asia, whereas the inverse situation was observed in North America.
  • The European Cocoa Association (ECA) reported that grindings increased in Europe by 2.03% year-on-year to reach 364,081 tonnes during Q2.2022. Nevertheless, these results should be interpreted with caution. Expectations of rising energy might have led grinders to process now and stockpile products for the future.
  • In South-East Asia, the Cocoa Association of Asia (CAA) released data showing that cocoa processing activities in the region increased by 3.64% to 228,895 tonnes in Q2.2022 compared with 220,865 tonnes in Q2.2021.
  • On the contrary, the National Confectioners’ Association (NCA) reported a year-on-year quarterly decline of 6.29% in cocoa processing. This amounts to 115,899 tonnes against 123,680 tonnes recorded during the second quarter of 2021.
  • Currently, the overall increase in the cocoa demand and the anticipated supply deficit for the 2021/22 season do not seem to be sufficient to counterbalance the effects of the current macroeconomic parameters.

You can download the complete report by clicking here.

 

Cocoa Market Report for June 2022

Abidjan, 13 July 2022 – The International Cocoa Organization releases the Cocoa Market Report for June 2022. The current report highlights the following insights:

  • As at June 2022, while a supply deficit is expected for the ongoing 2021/22 season, cocoa futures prices have followed a downward trend which has mainly been triggered by economic uncertainties. A year back i.e. June 2021, prices followed a downward trend as in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, the global cocoa market was expected to end the 2020/21 cocoa year with an excess supply.
  • The global cocoa market was at half-mast on both sides of the Atlantic in June with prices of the nearby cocoa futures contract averaging US$2,139 per tonne and ranging between US$2,059 and US$2,215 per tonne in London while in New York the JUL-22 contract traded at an average price of US$2,396 per tonne and oscillated between US$2,291 and US$2,522 per tonne.
  • As no bottleneck in the haulage of cocoa upcountry has been reported and given the conducive meteorological conditions, other parameters like aging cocoa trees or cocoa-related diseases as well as poor agricultural practices could have contributed to reducing the yield of cocoa farms and subsequently lowering the level of arrivals and purchases in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana respectively.

You can download the complete report by clicking here.

 

Cocoa Market Report for May 2022

Abidjan, 16 June 2022 – The International Cocoa Organization releases the Cocoa Market Report for May 2022. The current report highlights the following insights:

  • Since the start of the season, cocoa prices have generally not depicted any considerable movement although prices within the broader commodity market have witnessed significant ascending trends.
  • Notwithstanding the supply reduction for the ongoing 2021/22 season, stocks of cocoa beans held in ICE Futures licensed warehouses in Europe and the United States are generally high compared to the past season. This observation is partly due to the 2020/21 record production which has contributed to the high level of carryover stocks held in warehouses on both sides of the Atlantic for the 2021/22 season.
  • At the end of April, monthly inflation rates for all items were 8.1% and 8.3% in the European Union and the United States respectively, representing by far the highest level of monthly inflation rate reached over the last ten (10) years.
  • The industrial price index of chocolate manufacturing products increased by 5.0% in the European Union and by 7.7% in the United States, making chocolate manufacturing more expensive compared to the past few years.

You can download the complete report by clicking here.

 

May 2022 Quarterly Bulletin of Cocoa Statistics

Abidjan, 31 May 2022 – The International Cocoa Organization today releases its revised forecasts for the 2021/22 cocoa year and revised estimates of world production, grindings and stocks of cocoa beans for the 2020/21 cocoa year. The data published in Issue No. 2 – Volume XLVIII – cocoa year 2021/22 of the Quarterly Bulletin of Cocoa Statistics, reflect the most recent information available to the Secretariat as at the beginning of May 2022.

Compared to the 2020/21 season, for the current 2021/22 season, the forecast for global production is projected to decline by 6% to 4.923 million tonnes. Grindings on the other hand are expected to increase by almost 2% to 5.048 million tonnes. The gap will be covered by a reduction in stocks of 9%.

Several factors including adverse weather conditions and diseases are negatively affecting production for the ongoing season, with concerns for the size and quality of the ongoing mid-crop in West Africa.

Following the Russia-Ukraine conflict, trade disruptions, sanctions and high freight rates are affecting cocoa and fertilizer trade. The shortage of fertilizers on cocoa farms will very likely affect the quantity, quality and size of cocoa beans next year.

Despite the geopolitical and economic challenges that the world is currently facing, cocoa demand for the first half of the 2021/22 season has so far sustained a positive stance. Factors which contributed to the increase in cocoa demand include the resumption of activities in the air travel sector, which is a major gateway for chocolate sales as well as the recommencement of seasonal festivities. Positive quarterly earnings reports from major confectionary manufacturers for the period January – March 2022 also reveal that confectionary sales, which include chocolate, have picked up and are heading or at par with pre-COVID-19 era trends.

Summary of forecasts and revised estimates

 

Cocoa year
(Oct-Sep)		 2020/2021 2021/2022 Year-on-year change
Revised
estimates		 Previous
forecasts a/		 Revised
forecasts
(thousand tonnes) (Per cent)
World gross production 5 240 4 955 4 923 – 317 – 6.0%
World grindings 4 973 5 086 5 048 + 75 + 1.5%
Surplus/deficit b/ + 215 – 181 – 174
 
End-of-season stocks 1 928 1 747 1 754 – 174 – 9.0%
Stocks/Grindings ratio 38.8% 34.3% 34.7%

Notes:
a/ Estimates published in Quarterly Bulletin of Cocoa Statistics, Vol. XLVIII – No. 1 – Cocoa year 2021/22
b/  Surplus/deficit: net world crop (gross crop adjusted for loss in weight) minus grindings. Totals may differ due to rounding

 

Statistical information on trade in cocoa beans, cocoa products and chocolate, by country and by region, published in this edition, covers annual data from 2018/19 to 2020/21 and quarterly statistics for the period April-June 2020 to October-December 2021. Details on destinations of exports and origins of imports for leading cocoa exporting countries are also provided.

Copies of the Quarterly Bulletin of Cocoa Statistics, in Microsoft Excel and Adobe PDF formats, can be ordered from the new ICCO e-Shop: www.icco.org/shop or by email: statistics.section@icco.org

Cocoa Market Report for April 2022

Abidjan, 16 May 2022 – The International Cocoa Organization releases the Cocoa Market Report for April 2022. The current report highlights the following insights:

  • The first half of the 2021/22 cocoa season has so far witnessed a rebound in cocoa demand. Factors that have contributed to the increase in cocoa demand include the resumption of the air travel sector as well as the recommencement of seasonal festivities.
  • Available information on crop sizes in main cocoa origin countries in West Africa suggests that the 2021/22 cocoa season is heading towards a deficit of approximately 181,000 tonnes due to a shortfall in production as compared to the 2020/21 cocoa year coupled with the improvement in demand.
  • The global cocoa market was generally bearish in April with prices of the nearby cocoa futures contract reaching a 4-month low at US$2,179 per tonne in London and a 3-month low at US$2,430 per tonne in New York. A contributing factor has been the 4% appreciation of the US dollar.

You can download the complete report by clicking here.

 

Cocoa Market Report for March 2022

Abidjan, 20 April 2022 – The International Cocoa Organization releases the Cocoa Market Report for March 2022. The current report highlights the following insights:

  • Amid global economic uncertainties, cocoa prices have virtually not witnessed any significant price movements in March 2022. The ICCO average monthly prices for March 2021 and March 2022 were virtually at par at US$2,462 per tonne and US$2,461 per tonne respectively.
  • In Côte d’Ivoire, the 2021/22 mid-crop started in April with the Government’s decision to maintain the farm gate price at XOF 825 per kilogram of cocoa beans; identical to the farm gate price set for the main crop.
  • In Ghana, the latest information indicates that purchases of graded and sealed cocoa beans were very low year-on-year (down by 34% to 524,000 tonnes as at 31 March 2022) mainly due to unfavourable weather conditions that occurred in the country’s main cocoa growing regions

You can download the complete report by clicking here.

 

Webinar on food safety in the cocoa sector

REPORT FOOD SAFETY WEBINAR_ICCO ECA CAOBISCO_Current and upcoming EU regulations and impacts_ Executive Summary

On 22 March 2022, The International Cocoa Organization (ICCO), the Joint Cocoa Research Fund (JRF), the European Cocoa Association (ECA) and the Association of the Chocolate, Biscuits and Confectionery Industries of Europe (CAOBISCO) jointly organised a webinar on food safety in the cocoa sector, focusing on the  current and upcoming regulations in the European Union and their impact on the cocoa supply chain.

Click here to see the Executive Summary.

Brussels chosen as the venue for the World Cocoa Conference 2024

Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, 08 April 2022. – The World Cocoa Conference (WCC) is a ground-breaking networking event created by the International Cocoa Organization (ICCO) and launched in 2012 in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. Organized every two years to assess the status of the world cocoa economy, review current challenges and agree on measures to address these issues, it has now been established as the leading forum for the global cocoa sector, with over 1,500 delegates of governments, trade and industry, producers and civil society attending the last edition in Berlin, Germany in 2018.

It is the only event in the cocoa sector to bring together a diverse range of decision-makers and other stakeholders in the cocoa and chocolate value chain, from all over the world in one place, representing a unique opportunity to encourage discussion of challenges and opportunities, to gather intelligence, to make new contacts and to do business.

After four successful editions held in Africa, Europe and Latin America, and following the cancellation of the fifth edition of the Conference to be held in Bali (Indonesia) due to issues arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, the International Cocoa Organization is pleased to announce that the next edition of the World Cocoa Conference 2024 will be hosted by the Government of Belgium in Brussels, from 21 to 24 April 2024.

More details about the World Cocoa Conference 2024, including information about the venue, programme, sponsorship, exhibition opportunities and registration, are available here: www.worldcocoaconference.org

For more information, please contact Carlos Follana, Marketing and Communication Coordinator, International Cocoa Organization, ICCO Building, II Plateaux ENA – Avenue Boga Doudou, Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire; Tel: +225 27 22 51 49 50/51 | Fax: +225 27 22 51 49 79 | E-mail: Carlos.Follana@icco.org 

Cocoa Market Report for February 2022

Abidjan, 18 March 2022 – The International Cocoa Organization releases the Cocoa Market Report for February 2022. The current report highlights the following insights:

  • The importation of cocoa beans and cocoa semi-finished products to Ukraine (40,000 tonnes in cocoa beans equivalent in 2020/21) and to the Russian Federation (165,000 tonnes in cocoa beans equivalent) are expected to decline in the rest of 2021/22 season in the midst the ongoing military drama.
  • Trade disruption in Russia could affect global fertilizer availability and consequently global agriculture including cocoa production. Fertilizer trade will be affected as sanctions imposed on the Russian Federation and Belarus such as banking restrictions would hamper the payment of fertilizer sales. Thus, should this situation persist, cocoa smallholders who are already struggling with high prices of fertilizers will be unable to afford them.
  • Notwithstanding the upward trend observed in prices during the first ten days of February 2022, the global cocoa market was bearish during February in reaction to concerns that the war in Ukraine and the subsequent economic sanctions announced by the West could cause a strong increase in prices of Russian-led commodities, including crude oil and gas, which in turn could negatively affect the global economy.

You can download the complete report by clicking here.

 

ICCO Secures Funding from the WTO and EU to Address Cadmium Contamination in Cocoa Beans

Abidjan, 18 March 2022. The International Cocoa Organization is pleased to announce the commencement of the implementation of the project on “Improving capacity building and knowledge sharing to support management of cadmium levels in cocoa in Latin America and the Caribbean”. This has been made possible through financial contribution from the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the European Union (EU).

Cadmium, a naturally occurring chemical element, can have adverse health effects when consumed in contaminated foodstuffs. The European Commission Regulation No. 488/2014, which came into force in January 2019, sets ‘Maximum Residue Levels’ (MRLs) for cadmium in foodstuffs, including specific cocoa and chocolate products.

The project will be implemented in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Trinidad and Tobago for a total cost of US$551,000, with a grant of out of US$382,000 from the WTO’s Standard and Trade Development Facility (STDF) and €60,000 in co-financing from the European Union. Participating countries will provide the remainder of the financing requirements as their counterpart contribution.

“This milestone project brings together national and international institutions, academic bodies, cocoa producers and other key stakeholders to provide substantive contributions in knowledge and expertise, innovative methodologies and effective communication platforms to share and reinforce best practices to mitigate cadmium contamination in cocoa beans for the ultimate benefit of all stakeholders”, said Michel Arrion, Executive Director of the International Cocoa Organization

Project implementation will commence in March 2022 and will last for two years. Expected results include:

  1. The creation of a platform or network to share information and establish continuous dialogue among research institutes to build consensus on standardized testing protocols and best practices for cadmium mitigation and remediation.
  2. Capacity building and enhanced expertise of cocoa producers/stakeholders in the application of standardized protocols.
  3. Improved knowledge and better understanding of possible sources of cadmium presence in cocoa growing areas through analysis and mapping of hotspots and recommended best practices for mitigation and remediation; and
  4. Development of a training curriculum and training of master trainers who will lead the transfer of knowledge on cadmium mitigation and remediation to cocoa farmers and traders in the region.

This project is one among other efforts from the ICCO to ensure that cocoa beans produced and exported meet food safety standards worldwide.

The ICCO Secretariat is grateful to the Standard and Development Facility (STDF) and the European Union for the financial support to the project that will ensure continued access to the European market for cocoa produced in Latin America and the Caribbean.