ICCO projects slump in cocoa demand as economic uncertainties linger

By Onome Amuge

Global cocoa demand is projected to decrease by less than one per cent to 5.027 million tonnes, marked by a growing number of uncertainties including the current global macroeconomic outlook, the effect of climate change and diseases which  are likely to have an impact on cocoa supply and

Demand.

The International Cocoa Organization (ICCO) stated this in its first forecasts for the 2022/23 cocoa year and revised estimates of world production,

grindings, and stocks of cocoa beans. The data published in Issue

No. 1 – Volume XLIX – cocoa year 2022/23 of the Quarterly Bulletin of Cocoa Statistics, reflects the most recent information available to the Secretariat as at the beginning of February 2023.

As such, the 2022/23 season is anticipated to result in a limited supply deficit while demand is envisaged to be subdued. The expectation of a supply deficit has also been compounded with weather variations, especially in West Africa, the largest production region in the world.

Compared to the 2021/22 season, global cocoa supply is anticipated to rise by four per cent  to 5.017 million tonnes.

Citing the latest trade statistics from Eurostat, the International Cocoa Organisation (ICCO) noted that imports of cocoa beans and cocoa semi-finished products in the European Union

were reduced by 13.1 per cent year-on-year in Q4.2022 to 336,000 tonnes.

Dealers also noted that the recent surge in cocoa prices across both sides of the Atlantic were underpinned by a shortfall in supply following reports of heavy rains and flash floods across leading production zones of West Africa.