itstargetnews
Panoramic view of cocoa pods on the Ebeibda tree on November 30, 2024. Cocoa is one of Cameroon’s main exports.
Daniel Beloumou – Featured by Daniel Beloumou AFP | Getty Images
Prices of chocolate’s main ingredients rise surge This year, it prompted analysts to issue new warnings about extreme price swings.
New York Cocoa futures On Tuesday, the contract for March delivery rose 1% to $11,938 a ton, another record high. The stock has since given back some of its gains and was trading at $11,864 as of about 8:20 a.m. ET.
The benchmark contract hit an all-time intraday high of $11,925 in the previous session and is up more than 180% so far this year.
It comes amid renewed concerns about adverse weather conditions and tight supplies in West Africa, which is approx. three quarters World cocoa production.
Strategist at ING, ABN AMRO explain Continued tightness in cocoa and coffee markets, coupled with weather uncertainty, means prices are likely to remain volatile next year.
The global cocoa market will see its largest deficit in more than 60 years in the 2023-2024 marketing year, ING said in a research report data From the International Cocoa Organization (ICCO). It attributed the shortage to crop failures in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, the world’s largest cocoa producers.
“While the outlook for the 2024/25 marketing year looks better, concerns remain about weather developments in West Africa and their impact on the season,” Warren Patterson, head of commodity strategy at ING, said in a note. Yield Impact.” December 11.
“Current forecasts suggest that production in West Africa, which accounts for more than 70% of global production, will rise slightly. However, this is risky due to recent severe weather,” he continued.
Looking ahead, Patterson said prices are likely to remain historically high next year, which is necessary to “limit demand.”
Commodity markets remain ‘very dangerous’
Just like cocoa, Coffee price is Also soaring in 2024Analysts recently warned that it could take years for one of the world’s most traded commodities to recover.
Rabobank’s Carlos Meira pointed to cocoa and coffee as commodities of interest to professional traders, but warned that commodity markets remained “very volatile” and “very dangerous.”
On February 2, 2024, in Chicago, Illinois, a worker at Katherine Anne Confections, an artisanal chocolate shop and cafe, prepares a chocolate drink for a customer.
Scott Olson | Getty Images News | Getty Images
“(Cocoa) is one of the most obscure commodities, so I wouldn’t advise anyone who doesn’t know to go there, but it’s certainly one of the most interesting commodities,” Mera told CNBC.European Squawk Box” Tuesday.
“Then coffee, we’ve had another spike. Coffee has reached its highest price since 1977 (and) depending on which contract you look at, that could be a record, and Robusta coffee prices are also at record highs… … It’s a very interesting situation,” he added.
