Cocoa price suddenly collapses again after historic peak due to approaching rain | Economy

Two weeks ago, on April 19, the cocoa price reached a high of more than 12,000 dollars for a tonne. A bizarre height, because in recent decades prices have not exceeded 4,000 dollars.

Such high cocoa prices also led to more expensive chocolate for Dutch consumers. Even Easter chocolate in March was considerably more expensive due to high cocoa prices.

The increase in market prices was mainly due to several crop failures in Ivory Coast and Ghana, extreme weather and the closure of several important factories. The fear of a long-term shortage of cocoa caused the price for long-term contracts to continue to rise. Traders tried to get as much cocoa as possible and that drove the price up.

Now the fear of a cocoa shortage is subsiding again. This is partly because a period of more rain has begun in the West African cocoa-producing countries. Ivory Coast and Ghana have also tried to increase the price paid to farmers. They would therefore also produce more cocoa.

But above all it is also a bubble that bursts. According to analysts, traders have postponed purchases partly due to the exploded cocoa prices. This causes the price to drop again.

This has already been visible to some extent in recent weeks. But in the past three days, more than $3,000 has suddenly fallen off the market price. The cocoa price is now “only” 8,135 euros per tonne. That is much more than in recent years.