At the end of trading on Monday, the exchange value of cocoa beans in the world reached a new peak of $11,000 per tonne, which is twice as much as the record set in 1977, according to data from the ICE Futures exchange.
In March, the price of cocoa beans, already on a steady rise over the past two years, surged to unprecedented levels, surpassing $10,000 per tonne and increasing by 2.4 times since the beginning of the year.
The International Cocoa Organization (ICCO) reported in January that the two-year global cocoa bean deficit will continue into 2024, while shipping difficulties in the Red Sea will support the current trend of rising prices for the commodity.
According to the ICCO, production is expected to fall short of demand by 374,000 tonnes by 2024, while Swiss-based producer Barry Callebaut expects a gap of about 500,000 tonnes, or about one-tenth of the global market.
The increase in cocoa prices is due to low yields in West Africa, where approximately 70% of the world's cocoa is grown. The low yields are caused by the El Niño weather phenomenon, an above-average sea surface temperature in the Pacific Ocean that affects global climate conditions, causing higher temperatures and heavy rainfall in the region.
In particular, according to the ICCO, there has been a shortage of supply from key producers in Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana, which has led to a 28% and 35% drop, respectively, in arrivals at these countries' ports compared with the previous season.