Cocoa Markets and Shipping

Dock workers at the port of San Pedro in Côte d’Ivoire went on strike last week, in advance of one of the busiest times of the year, when the main harvest will need to be offloaded from the trucks. The workers, who work in difficult conditions carrying heavy bags of cocoa, currently earn 30 CFA […]

Summary Ex-factory chocolate prices have increased rapidly in the European Union during the past year. Prices have increased by about nearly 6% from August 2021 to August 2022, according to EUROSTAT. By the same token, cocoa futures prices have declined by 13% and 9% respectively on the London (ICE Futures Europe) and New York (ICE

Malaysia’s cocoa production is insufficient to fulfil domestic demand, so the country imports the commodity. The Malaysian Cocoa Board is encouraging smallholders to plant cocoa alongside other crops to increase their income. Malaysia’s cocoa production of 100,000 tonnes per year is not enough to meet the cocoa industry’s demand of 350,000 tonnes per year. The

Côte d’Ivoire’s regulator sold 25,000 tonnes of cocoa contracts at a non-negative premium to Cargill last week, industry sources said. Both Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana have traditionally charged country premiums, but after the introduction of the Living Income Differential to alleviate farmer poverty, buyers were unwilling to pay the original premium, and instead applied a

A tip-off has led police in Bali to uncover the country’s first known chocolate marijuana smuggling operation. Ricard Fajariadi works as a security guard during the day but at night ran a secret operation to smuggle marijuana around the country, using chocolate as the delivery medium.  Fajariadi was arrested on 5th August by police in

The Nigerian Government stated last week that it was committed to increasing Nigeria’s cocoa production to 500,000 tonnes by 2024. The country, which is the fourth largest cocoa producer in the world, is expected to have a slight drop in production this year to around 270 -280,000 tonnes. Meeting the goal a mere two years

The Ghana Cocoa Board’s (COCOBOD) Chief Executive, Joseph Boahen Aidoo, is encouraging fellow Cocoa-producing countries in Africa to join the Ghana – Cote d’Ivoire Cocoa Initiative.  The initiative is based in Ghana, and it was established as part of a collaborative effort between Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire aimed at improving Cocoa farmers’ livelihoods. According to

I’m excited to be moderating an upcoming live stream webinar hosted by CAA, with experts in shipping and logistics to talk about the real shipping challenges faced by the industry. If Covid wasn’t difficult enough, the war in Ukraine is adding headwinds and creating uncertainty. Fortunately, we have some expert panelists from the industry who