Global cocoa prices tumbled nearly 10% on Wednesday, hitting their lowest levels in two and a half years amid reports of mounting unsold inventories in Ivory Coast, the world’s largest cocoa producer.
Traders cited market rumors that warehouses in the West African nation are filled to capacity, with long queues of trucks unable to unload beans due to extremely weak export flows of the key chocolate ingredient.
“Industrial buyers are gradually returning to the market, but they’re unable to provide sufficient support,” one trader told Reuters.
Cocoa futures in London, the global benchmark for pricing, fell to their lowest level since mid-2023, touching £2,234 per metric ton earlier in the session. Contracts later traded 6.7% lower at £2,309 per ton as of 14:42 GMT.
In New York, cocoa futures slid to $3,189 per ton, also marking their weakest level since mid-2023, before recovering slightly to $3,265 per ton. Despite the rebound, prices remained down 5.8% on the day.
Sources told Reuters that Ivory Coast is considering cutting the guaranteed price paid to cocoa farmers, although the country’s cocoa regulator confirmed earlier this week that the price would remain unchanged until the end of the main harvest season on March 30.
Meanwhile, Ghana, the world’s second-largest cocoa producer, reduced its guaranteed farm-gate price by one-third last week in an effort to revive sales and secure funding for farmers, many of whom report not receiving payments since November.
The sharp selloff underscores growing concerns about oversupply and weak export demand, reversing earlier supply-driven rallies and weighing heavily on the global cocoa market.
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