Tag: cocoa supply

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Ghana Secures $1.5 Billion for 2010/11 Cocoa Harvest

In what has become an annual ritual, Ghana’s Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) managed to secure a $1.5 billion financing facility for the 2010/11 cocoa harvest. In a sign that international credit markets have eased up, the financing facility was oversubscribed. Banks from around the world actually offered $1.8 billion while COCOBOD was only seeking $1.2 billion. In light of the easy credit, COCOBOD increased the facility to $1.5 billion. In another piece of good news, the interest rate dropped from 250 points to 90 points over LIBOR.

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Ghana Eyes Record Crop for 2009-10

Ghana’s Cocoa Growing Region Source: Cadbury

Several reports quote cocoa traders in Ghana who predict a record crop in the current cocoa year. Ali Basma, managing director of Akuafo Adamfo Marketing Company, one of the largest cocoa buyers in the country, predicted that the crop could reach 800,000 tons this year. The head of the COCOBOD, Ghana’s cocoa board, was not as sanguine about the prospects and predicted only that this year’s crop will match the 703,000 tons produced during the last year. Timely deliveries of pesticides and fungicides and less rain are key conditions to keep black pod disease at bay. Black pod disease poses the most serious threat to Ghana and its neighbor’s cocoa crops.

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Nigerian Cocoa Production Also Down

Despite an uptick in August (deliveries ran 48% higher than for the same month a year earlier) overall cocoa production in Nigeria, the world’s fourth largest cocoa producer, was down for the last cocoa year. Total production for 2008-09 amounted to 156,320 tonnes according to a Bloomberg report. That’s over 10,000 tons below the previous year. Yet more confirmation that 2008-09 was a poor year for the largest cocoa producers.

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ICCO Predicts Cocoa Shortfall

The executive director of the International Cocoa Organization (ICCO) indicated on Monday that the 2008/09 cocoa season will yield less cocoa than previously thought. Despite a predicted decline in demand as a result of the global economic crisis, Jan Vingerhoets told Reuters that he expects a shortfall of about 45,000 tonnes.

It seems that the economic mess has not yet halted demand for chocolate. Fourth quarter grindings in Europe and the U.S. were up compared to last year albeit by small amounts, 0.1 percent and 1.85 percent respectively.

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