Cocoa prices experienced a significant drop on Friday, with May ICE NY cocoa falling by 5.71% to settle at 2.75-year lows. Similarly, March ICE London cocoa dropped 5.02%. This decline is attributed to strong global supply levels and weak demand, as evidenced by a predicted cocoa surplus of 287,000 metric tons for the 2025/26 season and the 267,000 metric tons for 2026/27, according to StoneX.
In the Ivory Coast and Ghana—responsible for over half of the world’s cocoa—farm-gate prices are being reconsidered due to reduced demand from international buyers. Ghana recently cut its cocoa price by nearly 30% for the upcoming season, while the Ivory Coast is contemplating a 35% reduction. On Thursday, cocoa inventories rose to a 5.75-month high of over 2.15 million bags in the ICE system, reflecting the increasing supply amid reduced consumer demand for chocolate.
