Cocoa Market Report for December 2023

Abidjan, 23 January 2023 – The International Cocoa Organization releases the Cocoa Market Report for December 2023. The current report highlights the following insights:

• During the calendar year 2023, supply was the major contributory factor that fuelled bullish prices.
• Other factors that signalled supply deficits and elevated cocoa prices were unconducive weather conditions and diseases. Floods caused delays to the mid-crop harvest.
• Moreover, black pod disease and swollen shoot virus due to the excess rains during the last quarter of 2023 heightened continued concerns of a shortfall in supply.
• With the recent surge in freight rates due to tensions in the Red Sea area, international trade is likely to be affected. With already high cocoa prices, an additional cost resulting from high freight rates may be daunting for cocoa users and could affect demand.
• At the end of 2023, the annual average price of the nearby contract in London had firmed by 46% compared to the previous calendar year. During the same period in New York, the average of the first position contract prices strengthened by 35% year-on-year. Furthermore, the annual average of the US-denominated ICCO daily price stood at US$3,261 per tonne, up by 38% compared to the average price of the previous year. The average of the Euro-denominated prices increased by 34% year-over-year, attaining €3,015 per tonne in 2023.

You can download the complete report by clicking here.