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 [...]
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 [...]
After carrying higher numbers season-to-date, Bloomberg may revise its Ivory Coast arrival figures lower, closer to Reuters estimates. Through December, cumulative arrivals figures are now reported at 1.124 MMT for Ivory Coast, the world’s largest producing country. This adjustment nearly wipes out the 8 [...]
As we pass the midpoint of the main-crop season, cocoa bean arrivals at West African ports are starting to slow, losing some ground vs. January arrivals a year ago. Arrivals at major Ivorian ports were estimated at 60,000 MT in the most recent week, [...]
Despite continued strong arrivals and signs of record West Africa main crop, cocoa prices turned higher over the past week in technically-led trading. Arrival figures from Ivory Coast through the end of March are approaching 1.7 MMT, well ahead of historical norm. The Harmattan [...]
Major West African cocoa origins seem to have dodged what some had thought would be a harsher Harmattan season; instead, Ivory Coast and Ghana have seen the sort of mix of sunshine and rains that typically supports higher bean production. In this case, 2018/19 [...]
