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Chocolate prices rise as cocoa crops rot infographic
Graphic charts the rise of the cocoa future price.
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CLIMATE

Chocolate prices soar as disease ravages cocoa crops

By Ninian Carter

December 5, 2023 - Chocoholics beware, prices are rising as cocoa crops in West Africa suffer punishing rains and an accompanying fungal infection that turns cocoa pods into unusable pulp.

The cocoa futures price is soaring as crops in West Africa suffer punishing rains (twice the usual level this season) and the black pod disease they bring with them – a fungal infection that turns cocoa pods into black mush.

Rising prices (in late November, cocoa futures surged to levels not seen for 46 years, hitting $4,398 per tonne) are due to extreme rainfall in West Africa, exacerbating the spread of the black pod fungal disease.

Once cocoa tree flowers are infected, the fruit they bear turn black and are unable to be harvested and processed.

It’s a climate crisis playing out across Ivory Coast and Ghana, which account for 57.8% of global production, with consequences for global food inflation and the cost-of-living crisis.

In December, processing plants in San Pedro, Ivory Coast’s main export hub, would normally be running at full capacity to clean and pack cocoa beans ready for shipment.

However, port arrivals in the harvest season that began on October 1 total 479,449 tonnes, compared to an estimated 707,200 tonnes a year ago – a 32% drop.

Sources
PUBLISHED: 05/12/2023; STORY: Graphic News
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