London, 25 January 2024. The ICCO Expert Working Group on Stocks (EWG-S) met today, Thursday 25 January 2024 to review the level of world cocoa bean stocks. The EWG-S is composed of experts in the cocoa field who meet once a year, at the invitation of the ICCO, to review and analyse the results of the ICCO’s annual survey of cocoa bean stocks held in European warehouses as well as assess the level of global cocoa bean stocks. The survey is conducted every year (since 2000) and aims to improve transparency in the cocoa market.

 

LOCATION OF THE ESTIMATED AND IDENTIFIED COCOA BEAN STOCKS	30 SEPTEMBER 2021	30 SEPTEMBER 2022	30 SEPTEMBER 2023
Europe	753	842	771
North America (ICE)	355	368	323
Côte d’Ivoire	133	87	67
Ghana	99	13	29
Peru	26	28	28
Total identified stocks (*).                                    a	1,366	1,337	1,218
Manufacturers’ stocks	92	90	97
Cocoa beans in transit	108	73	81
Southeast Asis (**)	199	223	223
Cameroon, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Togo, Venezuela	54	73	73
Total estimated stocks (***).                                 b	452	459	474
Total identified + total estimated (a+b).          c	1,818	1,796	1,690
Total identified stocks as a percentage of total identified and estimated stocks (a/c)	75%	74%	72%
Total statistically-derived stocks (****).                      d	2,059	1,843	1,744
Total stocks as a percentage of statistically derived stocks (c/d)	88%	97%	97%

Notes: Totals may differ from sum of constituents due to rounding

* It refers to stocks identified in the last three consecutive seasons

** The stocks of 2021 and 2022 have been kindly provided by the Cocoa Association of Asia. The 2023 stocks have been estimated by the EWG-S

***  This only includes estimates for the countries listed above

**** Published in the ICCO Quarterly Bulletin of Cocoa Statistics, Volume XLIX, No. 4, Cocoa Year 2022/23

While the ICCO Secretariat maintains, so far, its supply deficit estimate of 99,000 tonnes for 2022/23 as published in its latest Quarterly Bulletin of Cocoa Statistics (QBCS), it may revise that figure in its next Bulletin due at the end of February 2023, taking into account the outcome of this survey.

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

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.

 

Abidjan, 12 December 2023 – The International Cocoa Organization releases the Cocoa Market Report for November 2023. The current report highlights the following insights:

• Cocoa prices continued to extend their rallies in November due to supply tightness. By the end of the month the nearby contract prices reached US$4,522 per tonne in London and US$4,458 per tonne in New York. Compared to prices at the official start of the 2023/24 season in October, this reflects an increase of 23% and 27% in London and New York, respectively.
• Unconducive weather conditions in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana have been the root cause for the current decline in supply. Heavy rains have affected farming activities, the spread of diseases and haulage operations in the two countries. As these two leading producing countries supply about two-thirds of global cocoa beans, any change in their production tends to have a significant impact on the cocoa market.
• Climate related challenges have consequences not only for producers but for consumers as well. Similar to high cocoa prices, confectionary manufacturers are also faced with other expenses such as surging cost of sugar. Prices of sugar have also increased due to weather events that led to declining production in key sugar producing countries.
• The high cost of key ingredients due to supply constraints will consequently raise production costs for chocolate manufacturers and eventually be reflected in the price rise of confectionery products.
• The deficit expected for the current season and previous years’ deficits have been caused by unconducive weather conditions. As the season progresses and more information becomes available, it will become clearer how supply, demand and prices will play out. 

You can download the complete report by clicking here.