Cocoa: Africa strengthens its market position
June 8, 2017 at 9:18 AM ,
Der AUDITOR
In this season, a total of 4.69 million mt of cocoa beans should be harvested, which would lead to surpluses of 1.78 million mt at the beginning of 2017/18. About 75% of the global output comes from Africa, with as much as 61% from the Côte d’Ivoire (1.9 million mt) and Ghana (950,000 mt).
Local processors are stepping on the gas
To support their own economy more and more cocoa beans are being processed into cocoa powder, butter, etc. in the countries of origin. The processing figures in the producing countries should rise by 109,000 mt to 1.91 million mt. In contrast, the processing figures in importing regions (North America, Europe, etc.) will probably only rise by 25,000 mt to 2.35 million mt.
Africa on the way to becoming a monopolist
Market players, however, consider the strong presence of African countries on the cocoa market a risk. The situation is comparable to the quasi-monopoly of Turkey on the hazelnut market: If international trade depends on only a few producing countries, factors such as a poor crop or political unrest can have much more serious effects on prices.
Since last week, prices on the New York Stock Exchange have decreased slightly (1,988 USD/mt); however, the losses are still manageable. It is simply the case that the prices have already dropped too far this year.
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Cocoa production in detail |
|
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Value |
mt |
|
Côte d’Ivoire crop |
1,900,000 |
|
Ghana crop |
950,000 |
|
Global crop |
4,690,000 |
|
Surplus from 2016/17 |
1,780,000 |
|
Processing in country of origin |
1,910,000 |
|
Processing in importing country |
2,350,000 |
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Source: ICCO |
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