The Cocoa Crop Looks Bigger But It Won’t Solve Chocolate Crisis
- Analysts and traders see cocoa shifting into a small surplus
- It may not be enough to bring prices down significantly
Ccocoa beans drying on a rack at a farm in Kwabeng, Ghana.
Photographer: Paul Ninson/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Cocoa harvests are looking better for the new season, but it may not be enough to bring chocolate costs down much.
After poor crops in West Africa fueled huge bean shortages and turmoil across the market this year, focus has turned to how production will fare in the 2024-25 season that officially starts next week. Global output may exceed demand by about 90,000 tons, according to the average of 15 analyst and trader estimates compiled by Bloomberg, partly due to better harvests in top grower Ivory Coast.