May ICE NY cocoa (CCK26) closed down $0.75 (-2.30%) on Monday, while May ICE London cocoa #7 (CAK26) fell $0.46 (-1.91%). Cocoa prices remain above last Friday’s two-week low, affected by forecasts of a strong cocoa crop in West Africa, primarily in Ghana and the Ivory Coast, where recent rains have improved pod development.
Current ICE cocoa inventories reached a 7.5-month high of 2,326,443 bags. Ghana has cut the official price paid to cocoa farmers by nearly 30% for the 2025/26 growing season, and the Ivory Coast plans a 57% reduction that will take effect with the mid-crop harvest that started this month. This region collectively produces over half of the world’s cocoa. In contrast, Nigeria reported a 17% year-over-year increase in cocoa exports for December.
