The long term outlook for cocoa production in the world's biggest producing country - the Ivory Coast - will be badly affected by the current, and deepening, crisis in the country.
Swiss chocolate producer Barry Callebaut said in a trading statement this week that although the cocoa market broke through major resistance during the last two trading sessions, market movements are still influenced mostly by the situation in the Ivory Coast and fears that the crisis will not end quickly - despite the recent peace agreement signed in Marcoussis, near Paris, at the weekend
Since the weekend, violent demonstrations and clashes have taken place in the Ivory Coast's capital Abidjan and other cities, causing a wave of Europeans to flee the country.
According to further news reports this week, Barry Callebaut has temporarily stopped its processing factory in Abidjan for security reasons.
Barry Callebaut's total annual processing capacity in the Ivory Coast is about 100,000 tonnes, of which 70-75,000 tonnes are in Abidjan and the rest in San Pedro.