Easter chocolate eggs: Provisions for new revaluations due to over-double cocoa prices

Significant price increases in chocolate eggs of his period await international analysts due to the doubling of chocolate prices could soon become significantly more expensive, as the most important ingredient, cocoa, recently reached a record price of about $10,000 per tonne on the world market. In February 2024, it had averaged about US$5,640 or EUR 5.226 for a tonne of cocoa nuts. The reason for the rapid price increase is the low yields of crops in West Africa, the main area for the cultivation of cocoa, and the resulting supply deficit. Weather phenomena as well as structural problems in cultivation have affected the harvest in Côte d’Ivoire, for example. Ivory Coast is the world’s main cocoa producer and the largest exporter – about 44% of world cocoa comes from the West African country. The cocoa market is therefore also very volatile. In addition to concerns about rare natural supplies, the situation in the financial market is also deteriorating. Some merchants who have sold future fulfillment contracts now need cash to meet their profit margin requirements in derivatives, which may mean that they close many sales positions when markets go up – a factor that further feeds price trends. Africa provides 3/4 of world cocoa harvest World cocoa trade is a sensitive case, as over half of the world’s harvest comes from Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana. Once there is evidence that the harvest in these countries could be less favourable than in previous years, traders become nervous. The poor yields of the harvest have caused a significant rise in the price of cocoa in recent months. About half the world’s cocoa harvest comes from African countries – mainly from the West African region. According to the estimates of the International Cocoa Organization since February 2024, the worldwide harvest of 2023/24 will be significantly lower than in previous years, about 4.5 million tonnes. This is mainly due to a significant reduction in the harvest volume from Africa, which will decrease by around 0.4 million tonnes to 3.2 million tonnes.