Archive for category: Latest News

Abidjan, 31 May 2022 – The International Cocoa Organization today releases its revised forecasts for the 2021/22 cocoa year and revised estimates of world production, grindings and stocks of cocoa beans for the 2020/21 cocoa year. The data published in Issue No. 2 – Volume XLVIII – cocoa year 2021/22 of the Quarterly Bulletin of Cocoa Statistics, reflect the most recent information available to the Secretariat as at the beginning of May 2022.

Compared to the 2020/21 season, for the current 2021/22 season, the forecast for global production is projected to decline by 6% to 4.923 million tonnes. Grindings on the other hand are expected to increase by almost 2% to 5.048 million tonnes. The gap will be covered by a reduction in stocks of 9%.

Several factors including adverse weather conditions and diseases are negatively affecting production for the ongoing season, with concerns for the size and quality of the ongoing mid-crop in West Africa.

Following the Russia-Ukraine conflict, trade disruptions, sanctions and high freight rates are affecting cocoa and fertilizer trade. The shortage of fertilizers on cocoa farms will very likely affect the quantity, quality and size of cocoa beans next year.

Despite the geopolitical and economic challenges that the world is currently facing, cocoa demand for the first half of the 2021/22 season has so far sustained a positive stance. Factors which contributed to the increase in cocoa demand include the resumption of activities in the air travel sector, which is a major gateway for chocolate sales as well as the recommencement of seasonal festivities. Positive quarterly earnings reports from major confectionary manufacturers for the period January – March 2022 also reveal that confectionary sales, which include chocolate, have picked up and are heading or at par with pre-COVID-19 era trends.

Summary of forecasts and revised estimates

 

Cocoa year (Oct-Sep)	2020/2021	2021/2022		Year-on-year change
	Revised estimates	Previous forecasts a/	Revised forecasts
	(thousand tonnes)				(Per cent)
World gross production	5 240	4 955	4 923	– 317	– 6.0%
World grindings	4 973	5 086	5 048	+ 75	+ 1.5%
Surplus/deficit b/	+ 215	– 181	– 174
End-of-season stocks	1 928	1 747	1 754	– 174	– 9.0%
Stocks/Grindings ratio	38.8%	34.3%	34.7%

Notes:
a/ Estimates published in Quarterly Bulletin of Cocoa Statistics, Vol. XLVIII – No. 1 – Cocoa year 2021/22
b/  Surplus/deficit: net world crop (gross crop adjusted for loss in weight) minus grindings. Totals may differ due to rounding

 

Statistical information on trade in cocoa beans, cocoa products and chocolate, by country and by region, published in this edition, covers annual data from 2018/19 to 2020/21 and quarterly statistics for the period April-June 2020 to October-December 2021. Details on destinations of exports and origins of imports for leading cocoa exporting countries are also provided.

Copies of the Quarterly Bulletin of Cocoa Statistics, in Microsoft Excel and Adobe PDF formats, can be ordered from the new ICCO e-Shop: www.icco.org/shop or by email: statistics.section@icco.org

Abidjan, 20 April 2022 – The International Cocoa Organization releases the Cocoa Market Report for March 2022. The current report highlights the following insights:

• Amid global economic uncertainties, cocoa prices have virtually not witnessed any significant price movements in March 2022. The ICCO average monthly prices for March 2021 and March 2022 were virtually at par at US$2,462 per tonne and US$2,461 per tonne respectively.
• In Côte d’Ivoire, the 2021/22 mid-crop started in April with the Government’s decision to maintain the farm gate price at XOF 825 per kilogram of cocoa beans; identical to the farm gate price set for the main crop.
• In Ghana, the latest information indicates that purchases of graded and sealed cocoa beans were very low year-on-year (down by 34% to 524,000 tonnes as at 31 March 2022) mainly due to unfavourable weather conditions that occurred in the country’s main cocoa growing regions

You can download the complete report by clicking here.

 

Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, 08 April 2022. – The World Cocoa Conference (WCC) is a ground-breaking networking event created by the International Cocoa Organization (ICCO) and launched in 2012 in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. Organized every two years to assess the status of the world cocoa economy, review current challenges and agree on measures to address these issues, it has now been established as the leading forum for the global cocoa sector, with over 1,500 delegates of governments, trade and industry, producers and civil society attending the last edition in Berlin, Germany in 2018.

It is the only event in the cocoa sector to bring together a diverse range of decision-makers and other stakeholders in the cocoa and chocolate value chain, from all over the world in one place, representing a unique opportunity to encourage discussion of challenges and opportunities, to gather intelligence, to make new contacts and to do business.

After four successful editions held in Africa, Europe and Latin America, and following the cancellation of the fifth edition of the Conference to be held in Bali (Indonesia) due to issues arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, the International Cocoa Organization is pleased to announce that the next edition of the World Cocoa Conference 2024 will be hosted by the Government of Belgium in Brussels, from 21 to 24 April 2024.

More details about the World Cocoa Conference 2024, including information about the venue, programme, sponsorship, exhibition opportunities and registration, are available here: www.worldcocoaconference.org

For more information, please contact Carlos Follana, Marketing and Communication Coordinator, International Cocoa Organization, ICCO Building, II Plateaux ENA – Avenue Boga Doudou, Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire; Tel: +225 27 22 51 49 50/51 | Fax: +225 27 22 51 49 79 | E-mail: Carlos.Follana@icco.org 

Abidjan, 18 March 2022. The International Cocoa Organization is pleased to announce the commencement of the implementation of the project on “Improving capacity building and knowledge sharing to support management of cadmium levels in cocoa in Latin America and the Caribbean”. This has been made possible through financial contribution from the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the European Union (EU).

Cadmium, a naturally occurring chemical element, can have adverse health effects when consumed in contaminated foodstuffs. The European Commission Regulation No. 488/2014, which came into force in January 2019, sets ‘Maximum Residue Levels’ (MRLs) for cadmium in foodstuffs, including specific cocoa and chocolate products.

The project will be implemented in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Trinidad and Tobago for a total cost of US$551,000, with a grant of out of US$382,000 from the WTO’s Standard and Trade Development Facility (STDF) and €60,000 in co-financing from the European Union. Participating countries will provide the remainder of the financing requirements as their counterpart contribution.

“This milestone project brings together national and international institutions, academic bodies, cocoa producers and other key stakeholders to provide substantive contributions in knowledge and expertise, innovative methodologies and effective communication platforms to share and reinforce best practices to mitigate cadmium contamination in cocoa beans for the ultimate benefit of all stakeholders”, said Michel Arrion, Executive Director of the International Cocoa Organization

Project implementation will commence in March 2022 and will last for two years. Expected results include:

1. The creation of a platform or network to share information and establish continuous dialogue among research institutes to build consensus on standardized testing protocols and best practices for cadmium mitigation and remediation.
2. Capacity building and enhanced expertise of cocoa producers/stakeholders in the application of standardized protocols.
3. Improved knowledge and better understanding of possible sources of cadmium presence in cocoa growing areas through analysis and mapping of hotspots and recommended best practices for mitigation and remediation; and
4. Development of a training curriculum and training of master trainers who will lead the transfer of knowledge on cadmium mitigation and remediation to cocoa farmers and traders in the region.

This project is one among other efforts from the ICCO to ensure that cocoa beans produced and exported meet food safety standards worldwide.

The ICCO Secretariat is grateful to the Standard and Development Facility (STDF) and the European Union for the financial support to the project that will ensure continued access to the European market for cocoa produced in Latin America and the Caribbean.