European cocoa grindings see increase as global prices follow ‘downward trend’

European-cocoa-grindings-see-increase-as-global-prices-follow-downward-trend.jpg
The 2020-21 cocoa year will end with an excess supply. Pic: CN

The European Cocoa Organization (ECA) has reported an increase in cocoa grinding figures for the second quarter of 2022 with 364,081 tonnes of raw cocoa ground - an increase of 2.0% compared to the same quarter in the previous year.

The Association of the German Confectionery Industry (BDSI) also reports that its members have recorded a 3.7% increase in cocoa grindings in the second quarter with a total 96,498.6 tonnes of cocoa. It announced that grindings have now recovered after the slump caused by the coronavirus pandemic in 2020.

ICCO Market report

In its latest Cocoa Market Report for June (2022), the ICCO said that globally, a supply deficit is expected for the ongoing 2021-22 season, and cocoa futures prices have followed a downward trend that has mainly been triggered by ‘economic uncertainties’.

Twelve months ago, ICCO data showed prices followed a downward trend during the Covid-19 pandemic, and the global cocoa market was expected to end the 2020/21 cocoa year with an excess supply.

Last month, the global cocoa market was at ‘half-mast’ on both sides of the Atlantic with prices of the nearby cocoa futures contract averaging US$2,139 per tonne and ranging between US$2,059 and US$2,215 per tonne in London while in New York the July 2022 contract traded at an average price of US$2,396 per tonne and oscillated between US$2,291 and US$2,522 per tonne.

The ICCO said in its report that lower yields in Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana, the two main cocoa-growing countries could be down to ‘aging cocoa trees or cocoa-related diseases as well as poor agricultural practices on cocoa farms’.