The three major reported regions for cocoa grind saw YOY declines in the last quarter of 2019/20: Europe, down 4.7 percent from Q3 2019; N. America, down 4.0 percent YOY, and Asia, down 10.1 percent YOY. Grind weakness is largely attributed to weaker cocoa and chocolate consumption as a result of the pandemic.

This is the second straight quarter of YOY declines for Europe, but the third for Asia and the fifth for North America. As a result, all three regions saw total 2019/20 grind fall from 2018/19 levels: Europe was down 3.4 percent YOY at 1.39 MMT, North America was down 6.4 percent at 0.46 MMT, and Asia was down 2.2 percent at 0.84 MMT.

While North American grind demand has been stagnating for years, this is the first full market-year decline for Europe or Asia in the last five years, since 2014/15.

Combined 2020/21 grind for all three regions reached 2.68 MMT, down 3.5 percent YOY from 2018/19 grind and up only slightly from grind in 2017/18.

Asia quarterly cocoa grind

Source: CAA
Posted by: Information Services
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