Choc shock
Getting your chocolate fix could soon set you back much more than you expect, as cocoa future prices have surged to levels not seen in over 4 decades, hitting $4,400 per metric ton.
The rising prices are down to extreme rainfall in West Africa. Indeed, Ghana and Ivory Coast, the two leading cocoa-producing nations accounting for 60% of global production, are anticipating their lowest yields in 13 and 7 years, respectively. Inclement weather in the region, which has seen twice the usual rainfall this season, has exacerbated the spread of a fungal disease known as black pod, which claimed a tenth of Ghana's last cocoa harvest.
Locked
High prices also aren’t helping to draw new supply into the market because cocoa sales in both Ghana and Ivory Coast are tightly controlled by their governments, with deals usually agreed at least 12 months in advance. This has left growers not only footing the bill for higher fertilizer costs, but it's created a period of limbo, as the latest round of negotiations between governments and cocoa companies — which are pushing for discounts on the high prices — drag on.
