The International Cocoa Organization (ICCO) has slightly reduced its cocoa deficit forecast for the current crop year and says there are ample stocks for chocolate manufacturers, but a deficit next year could raise prices.
Hungry food ingredients giant Cargill to enter Brazilian sugar and
alcohol production sector for the first time, announcing a new deal
to buy Açucareira Corona sugar mills.
Barry Callebaut, the world's top supplier of industrial chocolate
to the confectionery industry, has reported a 6 per cent fall in
first quarter sales revenues to CHF1.15bn ($0.97bn) as squeezed
margins bite into the bottom line.
Prices for cocoa remain relatively volatile as political unrest in
Ivory Coast, that produces some 40 per cent of global cocoa crops,
keeps the market nervous.
Cocoa prices have leapt in London, driven by fears that instability
in Ivory Coast, that produces some 40 per cent of global crops,
could impact supplies.
