The dry season, or harmattan, is in full swing across West Africa, affecting three of the world’s largest producing countries: Ivory Coast, Ghana, and Nigeria. The harmattan is a southernly shift of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) below the main cocoa-growing regions. This pattern [...]
Dockworkers are striking in the major exporting coastal city of San Pedro in Ivory Coast, disrupting the normal flow and loading of cocoa beans destined for markets around the world. Strikers are protesting for higher wages and have blocked roads used to transport cocoa [...]
Most-active Dec-22 NY cocoa broke above its short-term trading range Tuesday, closing at a two-week low above its 20-day average and retracement resistance below $2,340. The contract is now in the lower end of its four-month range—excluding a brief dip to its $2,243 contract [...]
A few seasons into the implementation of a Living Income Differential (LID), Ghana and Ivory Coast have seen mixed results for premiums collected on bean sales. Despite some success for the LID in raising farmer income and improving livelihoods, country officials have at times [...]
The latest estimate from International Cocoa Organization (ICCO) showed a 174,000 MT deficit in the 2021/22 season, little changed from their previous forecast of a 181,000 MT shortfall, partly the result of a weaker grind forecast, which may be reflected in Q2 grind numbers [...]
This year’s harmattan or dry season across West Africa has been particularly dry in recent months. Poor rains have hurt the tree canopy and raised concerns over pod development for the upcoming midcrop. As soil moisture drops, stress increases on cocoa trees, causing leaves [...]
Four months into the West African main crop, cumulative tallies from both Ivory Coast and Ghana are telling two very different stories. Cocobod announced this past week that Ghana cocoa arrivals trailed last year by 44 percent, down nearly 300,000 MT year on year. [...]
Cocoa regulators in both Ghana and Ivory Coast have been warning for months of smaller 2021/22 crops as trees “rest” from bumper crops of the last two seasons—a phenomenon known as tree fatigue. A dry spring and harmattan season most likely pressured pod set [...]
