Chocolate prices rise as cocoa crops rot

Chocoholics beware, prices are rising as cocoa crops in West Africa suffer punishing rains and an accompanying fungal infection that turns cocoa pods into unusable pulp

COCOA FUTURES PRICE (price per tonne, weekly)

COCOA GROWERS 
Nov 26, 2023: $4,398 
      
Other   21.4%
Nigeria  6.0% 
Cameroon 6.2%
Ecuador  8.6%
Ghana   15.0%
Ivory Coast 42.8%

$4,500
4,250
4,000
3,750
3,500
3,250
3,000
2,750
2,500
2,250
2,000
1,750
 
2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023

Jan 7, 2018: $1,914 
  
May 1, 2023: Rainy season begins but swamps West Africa in more than double 30-year average. Fungal black pod disease spores spread via splashing and running water – hence spike in cases in Ivory Coast
and Ghana that has led to around 30% drop in cocoa harvest

 Sources: Bloomberg, Yahoo! Finance © GRAPHIC NEWS