+Info   Cocoa is the common name for a powder derived from the fruit seeds of the cacao tree. The Spanish called cocoa "the food of the gods" when they found it in South America 500 years ago. Today, it remains a valued commodity. Dating back to the time of the Aztecs, cocoa was mainly used as a beverage. The processing of the cacao seeds, also known as cocoa beans, begins when the harvested fruit is fermented or cured into a pulpy state for three to nine days. The cocoa beans are then dried in the sun and cleaned in special machines before they are roasted to bring out the chocolate flavor. After roasting, they are put into a crushing machine and ground into cocoa powder. Cocoa has a high food value because it contains as much as 20 percent protein, 40 percent carbohydrate, and 40 percent fat. It is also mildly stimulating because of the presence of theobromine, an alkaloid that is closely related to caffeine. Roughly two-thirds of cocoa bean production is used to make chocolate and one-third to make cocoa powder.

Four major West African cocoa producers, the Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria and Cameroon, together account for about two-thirds of world cocoa production. Outside of West Africa, the major producers of cocoa are Indonesia, Brazil, Malaysia, Ecuador, and the Dominican Republic. Cocoa producers like Ghana and Indonesia have been making efforts to increase cocoa production while producers like Malaysia have been switching to other crops. Ghana has had an ongoing problem with black pod disease and with smuggling of the crop into neighboring Ivory Coast. Brazil was once one of the largest producers of cocoa but has had problems with witches' broom disease. In West Africa, the main crop harvest starts in the September-October period and can be extended into the January-March period. Cocoa trees reach maturity in 5-6 years but can live to be 50 years old or more. During a growing season, the cocoa tree will produce thousands of flowers but only a few will develop into cocoa pods.

Cocoa futures and options are traded at the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) and on the London International Financial Futures and Options Exchange (LIFFE). The futures contracts call for the delivery of 10 metric tons of cocoa and the contract is priced in US dollars per metric ton.

Prices - ICE cocoa futures prices (Barchart.com symbol CC) posted the high for 2017 in January at $2,291 per metric ton after unrest by government troops in the Ivory Coast limited access to ports by cocoa suppliers. Cocoa prices then ratcheted lower into June 2017 and sank to a 10-year low of $1,769 per metric ton as signs of abundant supplies hammered cocoa prices. ICE monitored cocoa stockpiles in May 2017 rose to a record high of 5.849 million bags, the most since the data series began in 1999, and the ICCO projected 2016/17 global cocoa production would climb +18% yr/yr to 4.692 MMT with a surplus of 382,000 MT, the largest surplus in 6-years. Strength in global cocoa demand, however, fueled fund short-covering and prices recovered the remainder of the year. European Q3 cocoa grindings, a sign of demand, rose +3% yr/yr to 353,544 MT, the most for a Q3 in 6 years, and European Q4 cocoa grindings rose +4.4% yr/yr to 353,286 MT, the most for a fourth quarter since the data began in 1999. Also, data from Barry Callebaut. the world's top cocoa processor, showed global chocolate sales rose +3.1% in the three months through October 2017. The upside in cocoa prices was limited, though, after the ICCO raised its 2016/17 global cocoa production estimate to a record 4.730 MMT from 4,692 MMT. Cocoa prices finished the year at $1,892 per metric ton, down -11% for the year.

Supply - The world production of cocoa beans in the 2015/16 crop year fell by -1.8% to 4.154 million metric tons. The world's largest cocoa producer by far is the Ivory Coast with 40.7% of total world production in 2015/16. The Ivory Coast's production in 2015/16, however, fell -5.9% yr/yr to 1.690 million metric tons. After the Ivory Coast the major producers are Ghana with 20.2% of total world production in 2015/16, Indonesia with 7.2%, Cameroon with 5.5%, Ecuador with 5.5%, Brazil with 5.1%, and Nigeria with 4.8%. Closing stocks of cocoa in the 2015/16 crop year fell -9.4% yr/yr to 1.447 metric tons.

Demand - World seasonal grindings of cocoa in 2015/16 fell -0.3% yr/yr to 4.141 million metric tons, down from the 2013/14 record high of 4.335. The European Union is by far the largest global consumer of cocoa, consuming about 35.7 of the global crop.

Trade - U.S. imports of cocoa and cocoa products in 2016 (annualized through November) rose +0.8% yr/yr to 1.351 million metric tons, a new record high.

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