Cocoa bean futures rose for the sixth consecutive session this week on Friday, with prices reaching their highest level in more than 46 years - more than $5,000 per ton. This is reported by the MarketWatch portal, UNN reports.
Details
"The availability of cocoa from West Africa remains limited, and forecasts of another shortfall in production versus demand next year are increasing," Jack Scoville, vice president of Price Futures Group, wrote in a Friday report.
"Traders are worried about another short production year, and these fears have been exacerbated by El Niño, which threatens West African crops with hot and dry weather," he added.
It is noted that the most active March contract for cocoa CCH24 +0.40% CC00, +0.40% increased by $ 53, or 1.1%, and stopped at $ 5009 per metric ton on the US exchange ICE Futures on Friday. According to Dow Jones Market Data, this was the highest result for the most active contract since July 20, 1977.
"Prices also reached a more than 46-year high, settling at $4,956 on Thursday. In January, they rose by 15%, the best monthly increase since November 2020," the report said.
Addendum
In October 2023, it was reported that chocolate was at risk of becoming even more expensive due to a cocoa crop failure in West Africa.