Archive for year: 2017

Abidjan, 31 August 2017–The International Cocoa Organization today releases its revised forecasts for the current 2016/2017 cocoa year and revised estimates of world production, grindings and stocks of cocoa beans for 2015/2016, as summarized below. The data published in Issue No. 3 – Volume XLIII – Cocoa year 2016/2017 of the Quarterly Bulletin of Cocoa Statistics, reflect the most recent information available to the Secretariat as at the beginning of August 2017.

Summary of revised forecasts and estimates

Notes:
a/   Estimates published in Quarterly Bulletin of Cocoa Statistics, Vol. XLIII – No. 2 – Cocoa year 2016/2017
b/   Surplus/deficit: net world crop (gross crop adjusted for loss in weight) minus grindings
Totals may differ due to rounding.

This issue of the Bulletin contains the Secretariat’s revised forecasts for the 2016/2017 cocoa year as well as data for the past four years of production and grindings of cocoa beans, detailed by country. The main features of the global cocoa market are illustrated in colour charts. In addition, the Bulletin includes comments on crop and demand prospects in the leading countries for the current season, and a review of price developments on international markets for cocoa beans during the April-June quarter of 2017.

Statistical information on trade in cocoa beans, cocoa products and chocolate, by country and by region, published in this edition, covers annual data from 2013/2014 to 2015/2016 and quarterly statistics for the period April-June 2015 to October-December 2016. Details of origin of imports and destination of exports for leading cocoa importing countries are also provided. Historical statistics on cocoa trade and consumption, by country and by region, for the period 2007/2008 to 2015/2016 are presented for reference.

Copies of the Quarterly Bulletin of Cocoa Statistics, including Microsoft Excel files and Adobe PDF format can be ordered by completing and returning this form or from the ICCO Secretariat at the address below:

International Cocoa Organization, ICCO Building, II-Plateaux ENA – Avenue Boga Doudou, Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire; Tel: +225 22 51 49 50/51; Fax: +225 22 51 49 79; E-mail: registry@icco.org or info@icco.org

In a landmark event for the Organization, around 500 people gathered on 25 April for the formal inauguration of the ICCO’s new headquarters in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.

Ivorian Vice President H.E. Mr. Daniel Kablan Duncan was present for the ceremony, along with H.E. Mr. Mamadou Sangafowa Coulibaly, Minister of Agriculture, H.E. Mr. Souleymane Diarrassouba, Minister of Trade and Mr. Robert Beugré Mambé, Governor of the Abidjan Autonomous District.

They were joined by ICCO Council Chairman 2016-17 H.E. Mr. Luis Valverde, ICCO Executive Director Dr. Jean-Marc Anga and representatives from embassies, intergovernmental organisations and cocoa sector stakeholders.

The ceremony took place during the 95th regular session of the International Cocoa Council and subsidiary bodies.

The relocation of the ICCO to Abidjan should focus even more the Organization’s attention towards the requirements of producers.

“Côte d’Ivoire is now convinced that the presence of ICCO in Abidjan will provide opportunities to better understand the realities of the sector and to better appreciate the expectations of producers,” Vice President Kablan Duncan said.

“Through our establishment in a producing country,” Dr. Anga said, “we want to offer better access to information on the world of cocoa and to identify the existing opportunities that producing countries could benefit from. The goal is to improve the transparency of the cocoa market by providing member countries with cocoa studies, analyses and statistics, as well as forecasts on world supply and demand.”

The move to Côte d’Ivoire’s commercial capital after 44 years being headquartered in London, comes after a decision by the Council in 2015, following an invitation by the Ivorian government. The government provided and completely refurbished a three-storey building in the city’s Deux Plateaux area, which now houses the Organization’s 25 staff members.

Pictured–Top left: ICCO Executive Director Dr. Jean-Marc Anga (l) with Ivorian Vice President H.E. Mr. Daniel Kablan Duncan; Above right: The Vice President presents the keys to the building to ICCO Council Chairman H.E. Mr. Luis Valverde; Above left: the commemorative plaque marking the building’s inauguration as ICCO headquarters

The International Cocoa Organization (ICCO) is organizing the International Symposium on Cocoa Research (ISCR 2017) to take place in Lima, Peru, 13 – 17 November 2017, in conjunction with the Government of Peru.

With the theme Promoting Advances in Research to Enhance the Profitability of Cocoa Farming, the International Symposium aims to review recent advances in technology and innovations, share information and agree on common strategies with the goal of accelerating the development of the world cocoa sector.

The Symposium is expected to attract scientists, researchers and policy makers, as well as representatives from the trade and industry, development agencies and civil society, from all over the world.

Peru, with its rich heritage of growing fine and flavour cocoa, as well as having one of the world’s highest growth rates in cocoa production, is an ideal place to hold the Symposium.

The Symposium aims to provide a platform for the cocoa community and scientists involved in cocoa research to brainstorm on the latest findings, foster greater collaboration in this area, and agree on priorities for collective action.

Included among the thematic areas to be covered by the papers at the Symposium, will be cocoa genetics and breeding; cocoa agronomy, agroforestry and physiology; cocoa pests and diseases; environmental issues in the cocoa sector; cocoa quality, flavour, chocolate manufacturing, consumption and food safety; cocoa marketing and socio-economic analysis; and adoption of technologies and efficient utilization of results from cocoa research.

Researchers on cocoa-related topics from the public and private sectors are invited to submit abstracts, beginning on 1 May, via the ISCR website.

Abidjan, 20 March 2017 — The International Cocoa Organization (ICCO), established under the aegis of the United Nations and located in London, United Kingdom since 1973, is relocating to Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, the leading producer of beans with more than a third of the world’s supply.

After 44 years in the United Kingdom, a consumer country, the time was right for the Organization to move closer to the realities of cocoa producers in order to provide them with expertise in analyzing and solving the challenges facing them.

The ICCO inaugurates its headquarters (pictured above with ICCO Secretariat staff) in Abidjan on 25 April 2017. This inauguration coincides with the week-long meetings of the International Cocoa Council and its subsidiary bodies from 24 to 28 April 2017.

The ICCO has 51 member states, 21 from exporting countries and 30 from importing countries, as well as representatives of the private and public sectors. Its core mandate is to regulate and foster the operations of the world cocoa sector, in compliance with the successive international agreements signed by the member states. (Pictured: ICCO Chairman, Ecuador’s Vice Minister of Agriculture and Livestock, H.E. Mr. Luis Valverde, is welcomed to the Abidjan headquarters by Executive Director Dr. Jean-Marc Anga). 

The Organization, through projects and capacity building programs that engage the various stakeholders in the value chain, aims to achieve a sustainable cocoa economy that encompasses, social, economic and environmental aspects.

The ICCO’s areas of expertise, among others, include economic studies of the world cocoa sector as well as the collection, analysis and dissemination of statistical data through:

– The Monthly Review of the cocoa market;
– The quarterly statistical bulletin (QBCS), reputed for its relevance and impartiality;
– The World Cocoa Directory, the only reliable reference publication of its kind;
– The organization of World Cocoa Conferences (WCC);
– The organization of seminars and training workshops for stakeholders in the world cocoa chain.

The relocation to Côte d’Ivoire, a producing country, marks a decisive step in the life of ICCO. This is an opportunity to consolidate the achievements and operate from Abidjan with the highest level of expertise crucial in this global organization, in order to adequately meet the expectations of all involved, especially the small producers.