Although the cocoa market is nearly one quarter into the new season and in the midst of main crop flow, stocks of cocoa beans in licensed U.S. warehouses have continued to fall, and December ending stocks hit their lowest point in ten years.
Concern over the status of bean imports related to reports of child labor in Ivory Coast has importers on edge and worried that cargoes destined for U.S. ports could be detained by Customs. In the past several months, several members of Congress have threatened a ban on cocoa bean imports due to allegations of use of child labor on farms across the West African nation. Investigations found evidence of child labor, and now importers are increasingly apprehensive about import implications.
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