COPAL COCOA Info



COPAL COCOA Info A Weekly Newsletter of Cocoa Producers' Alliance

| Health and Nutrition | |

|Scientists identify cocoa’s ‘novel mechanism’ for heart benefits |Business & Economy |

|Why we love chocolate |Indonesia May Raise Cocoa Bean Export Tax in February |

|Chocolate May Reduce Risk of Heart Failure |Cameroon’s Cocoa Exports Drop 9.9% in Week to Jan. 24 |

|Is chocolate a treatment for genital warts |Cocoa bean shipment a taste of good news for Camden |

| | |

|Production and Quality |Labour Issues |

|Uganda sees 2010/11 cocoa exports up on more acreage |ILO Launches support to stop Child Labour on Cocoa Farms in 3 |

| |districts |

|The Market | |

|UPDATE 1-300,000 T Ivorian cocoa ready for export – sector |Environmental Issue |

|Chocolate Prices on the Rise |Chocolate Drought Predicted, With World Supply of Cocoa Gone by |

|Cocoa Has Longest Rally in 15 Months on Ivory Coast Concerns |2014 – OH NO!0 |

|Cocoa Factory Faces Shutdown | |

|SOFTS-Cocoa peaks at 1-yr high, sugar firm |Research & Development |

|Nigerian Cocoa Price Jumps 8.2% in a Week After Ivory Coast Ban | |

|Davos: Nestle: Only Long Term Cocoa Price Rise Could Require |Promotion & Consumption |

|Chocolate Hikes | |

|World 'faces chocolate drought in 2014' | |

|Maersk halts Ivorian cocoa exports: official |Others |

| |Valued Opinions Reveals Britain as A Nation of Milk Chocolate |

|Processing & Manufacturing |Lovers |

|ADM Dutch cocoa plant to hit full capacity in Feb |Chocolate lovers face price rise as ingredients soar |

| |Ivory Coast's Alassane Ouattara Wants EU Sanctions on 5 Cocoa |

| |Exporters |

In the News (from Newspapers worldwide)

ICCO Daily Cocoa Prices

| |ICCO Daily Price |ICCO Daily price |London futures |New York futures |

| |(SDR/tonne) |($US/tonne) |(£/tonne) |($US/tonne) |

| | | | | |

|24th January |2166.30 |3371.33 |2168.33 |3281.67 |

| | | | | |

|25th January |2177.51 |3394.56 |2191.33 |3329.33 |

| | | | | |

|26th January |2177.81 |3402.72 |2189.00 |3334.33 |

| | | | | |

|27th January |2176.19 |3403.69 |2183.33 |3341.33 |

| | | | | |

|28th January |2129.35 |3330.95 |2146.67 |3268.33  |

| | | | | |

|Average |2165.00 |3381.00 |2176.00 |3322.00 |

International Financial Futures and Options Exchange (LIFFE)

London Futures Market – Summary of Trading Activities

(£ per tone)

|Monday |24th January |2011 |  |  |  |  |

|Month |Opening Trans |Settle |Change |Daily High |Daily Low |Volume |

|Mar  2011 |2290 |2190 |42 |2307S |2170S |10,430 |

|May  2011 |2220 |2161 |47 |2269S |2144S |5,715 |

|Jul  2011 |2248 |2154 |43 |2252S |2140 |2,195 |

|Sep  2011 |2209 |2135 |36 |2216 |2132 |750 |

|Dec  2011 |2138 |2110 |23 |2146 |2100 |197 |

|Mar  2012 |2163 |2110 |18 |2163 |2110 |1,156 |

|May  2012 |2125 |2112 |16 |2125S |2125S |1 |

|Jul-12 |  |2118 |18 |  |  |0 |

|Sep-12 |  |2122 |18 |  |  |0 |

|Dec  2012 |  |2131 |18 |  |  |0 |

|Average/Totals |  |2134 |  |  |  |20,444 |

|Tuesday |25th January |2011 |  |  |  |  |

|Month |Opening Trans |Settle |Change |High |Low |Volume |

|Mar  2011 |2214 |2227 |37 |2231 |2187 |8,372 |

|May  2011 |2176 |2176 |15 |2190 |2155 |5,657 |

|Jul  2011 |2166 |2171 |17 |2182 |2148 |2,431 |

|Sep  2011 |2147 |2154 |19 |2164 |2136 |1,396 |

|Dec  2011 |2127 |2123 |13 |2136S |2104S |1,349 |

|Mar  2012 |2120 |2132 |22 |2144S |2115 |972 |

|May  2012 |2126 |2136 |24 |2151S |2116 |140 |

|Jul-12 |2130 |2143 |25 |2146 |2130 |79 |

|Sep-12 |  |2147 |25 |  |  |0 |

|Dec  2012 |  |2156 |25 |  |  |0 |

|Average/Totals |  |2157 |  |  |  |20,396 |

|Wednesday |26th January |2011 |  |  |  |  |

|Month |Opening Trans |Settle |Change |High |Low |Volume |

|Mar  2011 |2237 |2214 |-13 |2254 |2187 |5,936 |

|May  2011 |2185 |2179 |3 |2203 |2146 |4,419 |

|Jul  2011 |2185 |2174 |3 |2190S |2141S |2,705 |

|Sep  2011 |2169 |2167 |13 |2172S |2131 |653 |

|Dec  2011 |2138 |2142 |19 |2143 |2103 |1,290 |

|Mar  2012 |2140 |2151 |19 |2151 |2135 |320 |

|May  2012 |2148 |2155 |19 |2155S |2140 |207 |

|Jul-12 |2155 |2161 |18 |2161 |2152 |21 |

|Sep-12 |  |2163 |16 |  |  |0 |

|Dec  2012 |  |2172 |16 |  |  |0 |

|Average/Totals |  |2168 |  |  |  |15,551 |

|Thursday |27th January |2011 |  |  |  |  |

|Month |Opening Trans |Settle |Change |High |Low |Volume |

|Mar  2011 |2225 |2200 |-14 |2249 |2195 |5,569 |

|May  2011 |2190 |2180 |1 |2219 |2166S |3,514 |

|Jul  2011 |2184 |2170 |-4 |2204 |2155S |1,311 |

|Sep  2011 |2170 |2160 |-7 |2190 |2152S |522 |

|Dec  2011 |2150 |2140 |-2 |2166 |2125 |999 |

|Mar  2012 |2165 |2147 |-4 |2169 |2135S |1,729 |

|May  2012 |2166 |2154 |-1 |2172S |2136S |93 |

|Jul-12 |2166 |2160 |-1 |2179 |2142S |76 |

|Sep-12 |  |2162 |-1 |  |  |0 |

|Dec  2012 |  |2171 |-1 |  |  |0 |

|Average/Totals |  |1930 |  |  |  |13,813 |

|Month |Opening Trans |Settle |Change |High |Low |Volume |

|Mar  2011 |2191 |2164 |-36 |2210 |2156 |5,476 |

|May  2011 |2175 |2143 |-37 |2185 |2136 |5,997 |

|Jul  2011 |2161 |2133 |-37 |2176 |2126 |1,690 |

|Sep  2011 |2149 |2122 |-38 |2157 |2115 |855 |

|Dec  2011 |2130 |2107 |-33 |2143S |2096 |877 |

|Mar  2012 |2115 |2117 |-30 |2126 |2114S |101 |

|May  2012 |2134 |2130 |-24 |2134 |2122S |68 |

|Jul-12 |2141 |2135 |-25 |2144 |2129S |131 |

|Sep-12 |2148 |2143 |-19 |2152 |2145 |65 |

|Dec  2012 |  |2156 |-15 |  |  |0 |

|Average/Totals |  |1924 |  |  |  |

|  |  |  |  |  |85,464 |

New York Board of Trade

(New York Futures Market – Summary of Trading Activities)

(US$ per tone)

|Monday |24th January |2011 |  |  |  |  |

|Month |Open |Price |Change |High |Low |Volume |

|Mar  2011 |3281 |3312 |128 |3393 |3244 |17,177 |

|May  2011 |3233 |3282 |109 |3340 |3222 |7,469 |

|Jul  2011 |3298 |3268 |88 |3335 |3221 |2,298 |

|Sep  2011 |3286 |3250 |72 |3319 |3191 |1,318 |

|Dec  2011 |3298 |3253 |62 |3298 |3198 |1,229 |

|Mar  2012 |3349 |3310 |63 |3349 |3303 |1,093 |

|May  2012 |3313 |3303 |64 |3321 |3313 |4 |

|Jul  2012 |0 |3310 |61 |0 |0 |0 |

|Sep  2012 |0 |3314 |59 |0 |0 |0 |

|Dec  2010 |0 |3330 |59 |0 |0 |0 |

|Average/Totals |  |3293 |  |  |  |30588 |

|Tuesday |25th January |2011 |  |  |  |  |

|Month |Open |Price |Change |High |Low |Volume |

|Mar  2011 |3333 |3335 |23 |3375 |3270 |15,119 |

|May  2011 |3296 |3301 |19 |3333 |3247 |3,990 |

|Jul  2011 |3286 |3287 |19 |3320 |3248 |3,084 |

|Sep  2011 |3262 |3261 |11 |3291 |3227 |878 |

|Dec  2011 |3262 |3259 |6 |3296 |3225 |970 |

|Mar  2012 |3320 |3324 |14 |3358 |3278 |1,219 |

|May  2012 |3278 |3319 |16 |3304 |3269 |102 |

|Jul  2012 |3277 |3324 |14 |3306 |3274 |78 |

|Sep  2012 |0 |3327 |13 |0 |0 |0 |

|Dec  2010 |0 |3343 |13 |0 |0 |0 |

|Average/Totals |  |3308 |  |  |  |25440 |

|Wednesday |26th January |2011 |  |  |  |  |

|Month |Open |Price |Change |High |Low |Volume |

|Mar  2011 |3367 |3352 |17 |3395 |3319 |12,318 |

|May  2011 |3318 |3338 |37 |3355 |3288 |4,600 |

|Jul  2011 |3313 |3335 |48 |3339 |3276 |2,050 |

|Sep  2011 |3283 |3313 |52 |3315 |3251 |578 |

|Dec  2011 |3283 |3306 |47 |3309 |3254 |651 |

|Mar  2012 |3348 |3373 |49 |3370 |3342 |1,155 |

|May  2012 |3340 |3370 |51 |3355 |3338 |633 |

|Jul  2012 |3354 |3376 |52 |3362 |3354 |16 |

|Sep  2012 |0 |3378 |51 |0 |0 |0 |

|Dec  2010 |0 |3394 |51 |0 |0 |0 |

|Average/Totals |  |3354 |  |  |  |22001 |

|Thursday |27th January |2011 |  |  |  |  |

|Month |Open |Price |Change |High |Low |Volume |

|Mar  2011 |3352 |3358 |6 |3420 |3334 |11,706 |

|May  2011 |3328 |3339 |1 |3390 |3322 |3,783 |

|Jul  2011 |3330 |3322 |-13 |3374 |3317 |974 |

|Sep  2011 |3323 |3300 |-13 |3351 |3295 |261 |

|Dec  2011 |3314 |3296 |-10 |3345 |3293 |322 |

|Mar  2012 |3361 |3359 |-14 |3410 |3352 |558 |

|May  2012 |3354 |3357 |-13 |3400 |3349 |155 |

|Jul  2012 |3356 |3361 |-15 |3406 |3356 |72 |

|Sep  2012 |3376 |3358 |-20 |3419 |3376 |59 |

|Dec  2010 |3396 |3374 |-20 |3450 |3396 |31 |

|Average/Totals |  |3342 |  |  |  |17921 |

|Friday |28th January |2011 |  |  |  |  |

|Month |Open |Price |Change |High |Low |Volume |

|Mar  2011 |3355 |3277 |-81 |3358 |3256 |11,479 |

|May  2011 |3342 |3275 |-64 |3342 |3250 |4,320 |

|Jul  2011 |3330 |3259 |-63 |3330 |3232 |960 |

|Sep  2011 |3295 |3239 |-61 |3295 |3221 |340 |

|Dec  2011 |3265 |3244 |-52 |3265 |3227 |275 |

|Mar  2012 |3324 |3306 |-53 |3325 |3289 |508 |

|May  2012 |3323 |3305 |-52 |3324 |3288 |108 |

|Jul  2012 |3333 |3321 |-40 |3340 |3300 |109 |

|Sep  2012 |3345 |3335 |-23 |3357 |3311 |471 |

|Dec  2010 |3360 |3369 |-5 |3394 |3345 |118 |

|Average/Totals |  |3293 |  |  |  |18688 |

|Average for the week  |3293 |  |  |  |3398 |

|  |  |  |  |  |3398 |

News

Health and Nutrit

Scientists identify cocoa’s ‘novel mechanism’ for heart benefits

NutraIngredients- 

By Stephen Daniells,

26-Jan-2011

The potential heart health benefits of polyphenol-rich cocoa powder may be related to a ‘novel mechanism’ of boosting HDL (good) cholesterol, says a new study from Japan.

The new study may extend our understanding of cocoa's potential heart benefits

The new study may extend our understanding of cocoa's potential heart benefits

Researchers from the Food and Health R&D Laboratories at Japanese company Meiji Seika Kaisha report that cocoa’s potential ability to boost HDL levels is related to a proteins which boost levels of a compound called apolipoprotein A1 (Apo-A1), which is required by the body to produce HDL-cholesterol.

“As cholesterol metabolism is known to be regulated by several different mechanisms, it is possible that cacao polyphenols may act on multiple pathways as a regulatory receptor agonist or ligand, similar to other plant polyphenols,” wrote the researchers in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

Cocoa’s benefits

The health benefits of polyphenols from cocoa have been gathering increasing column inches in the national media. To date studies have reported potential benefits for cardiovascular health, skin health, and even brain health.

The majority of science into the potential benefits of cocoa have revolved around cardiovascular benefits of the flavanols (also known as flavan-3-ols or catechins), and particularly the monomeric flavanol (-)epicatechin.

Recently, however, scientists from the University of Reading in England and Mars reported that cocoa may also affect gut microflora and possess prebiotic potential.

The new study takes us back to the health benefit with the strongest supporting science: Cardiovascular health. While it is known that consumption of cocoa polyphenols may boost HDL cholesterol levels, and decrease LDL cholesterol levels, the Japanese researchers state that “the mechanisms responsible for these effects of cocoa on cholesterol metabolism have yet to be fully elucidated”.

Study details

In an attempt to fill this knowledge gap, the Japanese researchers examined the effects of cacao polyphenols such as (−)-epicatechin, (+)-catechin, and procyanidin B2 and C1 in human intestinal cells.

Results showed that the polyphenols increased apo A1 protein levels, while levels of alipoprotein B, the main alipoprotein responsible for carrying LDL cholesterol to cells.

Digging deeper into the potential mechanism, the researchers add that the cocoa compounds were also associated with an increase in sterol regulatory element binding proteins (SREBPs).

“SREBP is primarily responsible for the regulation of genes involved in cholesterol biosynthesis and metabolism,” explained the researchers. “Therefore, these results suggest that cacao polyphenols participate in cholesterol metabolism.”

“These results elucidate a novel mechanism by which HDL cholesterol levels become elevated with daily cocoa intake,” they concluded.

Why we love chocolate

Liberty Vindicator –

Jan 26, 2011

The reason people are known to enjoy and crave chocolate may be connected to its chemical components.

Chocolate has been known to affect mood in many ways. It contains 380 known chemicals, triggering a host of responses in the brain. Chocolate can also increase blood pressure and blood-sugar levels, attributing to feelings of alertness. The caffeine in chocolate also acts as a stimulant.

However, the reason chocolate may be snatched up come Valentine's Day is that chocolate appears to contain phenylalanine, the same chemical that is produced by the brain when people fall in love. Doctors think that eating chocolate creates a temporary "love high."

For those gifting chocolate for Valentine's Day, consider dark chocolate, which is also high in antioxidants. This chocolate is among the healthier varieties in which to indulge.

Chocolate May Reduce Risk of Heart Failure

- Michelle Schoffro Cook –

Jan 28, 2011

Forget what you’ve heard about death by chocolate. A new Harvard study shows that chocolate may be good for your heart. It’s a great day for chocolate lovers everywhere.

Murray Mittleman and his colleagues at Harvard Medical School studied data on 31,823 middle-aged and elderly Swedish women to assess the relationship between chocolate and heart failure. The women who consumed an average of one to two servings (that’s a fairly small amount) of high-quality, cocoa-rich chocolate per week had a 32 percent lower risk of experiencing heart failure. Those women who ate 1 to 3 servings a month had a 26 percent lower risk of heart failure.

The scientists noted that the high concentration of phytonutrients called flavonoids in dark chocolate are potent antioxidants that are likely responsible for the results. The flavonoids are believed to lower blood pressure and reducing inflammation linked with heart failure.

Keep in mind that not just any chocolate will do. Forget the vast majority of candy bars on the market. The study results were achieved with high-quality, cocoa-rich chocolate. Read DARK chocolate. The darker the better. And, be sure the one you choose is low in sugar, has no trans or hydrogenated fats, and no artificial colors, flavors, or other synthetic ingredients.

Is chocolate a treatment for genital warts?

io9 - ‎

Jan 25, 2011‎

All those chocolate commercials with women lounging in a bath and luxuriantly eating chocolate may get a different spin. Turns out compounds in cacao could be a powerful treatment for the sexually-transmitted disease HPV.

Chocolate has been considered a delicious, addictive food for for a long time. The Latin name for the tree that produces cocoa is Theobroma Cacao, so clearly people knew early on that they'd hit on something special. Since then, chocolate has been the central theme in Cathy comics, a massively profitable industry, and the subject of a long series of commercials in which liquid fudge is poured in slow motion while people make ecstatic faces.

Turns out that those commercials may be underestimating the value of chocolate.

Chocolate is rich in antioxidants, molecules that bond with oxygen compounds which would otherwise rip into proteins, fats or DNA in the body. It has alkaloids, which animals often use to create neurotransmitters. And it has epicatechin oligomers, which biotech startup Cacao Biotechnologies has developed into an antiviral specifically meant to fight HPV. The treatment is scheduled to start clinical trials in six to nine months. Should it prove effective, chocolate producers may want to rethink the whole "chocolate is sexy" thing.

Uganda sees 2010/11 cocoa exports up on more acreage

Reuters Africa 

Thu Jan 27, 2011

KAMPALA (Reuters) - Uganda expects its cocoa exports in the 2010/2011 (Oct-Sep) season to rise 6.6 percent compared with the last season, as newly planted trees start producing beans, a senior government official told Reuters on Thursday.

Cocoa is one of the major commodity exports for the landlocked east African country and a significant source of foreign exchange.

Joseph Kimera, head of the state-run Cocoa Development Project (CDP) forecast Uganda would export about 16,000 tonnes this season from the previous season's 15,000 tonnes.

Earnings from the crop last season were not immediately available but the 2008/09 year brought in $35 million from 15,000 tonnes.

"Higher production and exports is mainly a function of an increase in planted area and more people in Uganda have been planting cocoa trees and most of them are reaching maturation, so we anticipate this to positively impact this season's exports," he said.

Last season's exports fell short of its forecast of 18,000 mainly on account of irregular weather patterns that disrupted pod development and harvesting, Kimera said.

"Rains didn't come when they were expected and sunshine was so extreme in some areas at a time when rains were needed. This led to pods falling off trees while others became small," he said.

Cocoa production has fluctuated in Uganda since it was introduced nearly 100 years ago but the government has increased support for farmers through the supply of seedlings, and by training them to take care of their crops.

Output peaked in the 1960s, but a series of bottlenecks -- government neglect, a lack of finance and price fluctuations -- throttled the sector in the 1970s and 1980s to the point where the crop was virtually relegated to the economic periphery.

Kimera said exports this season were likely to be higher than 16,000 tonnes but that they decided to be more cautious as a way of hedging against the adverse impact of the evolving instability in traditional weather patterns. Uganda has an estimated 18,000 hectares of land under cocoa cultivation, and the crop supports about 10,000 households.

UPDATE 1-300,000 T Ivorian cocoa ready for export – sector

Reuters Africa 

Jan 24, 2011

ABIDJAN (Reuters) - Around 300,000 tonnes of Ivorian cocoa registered before presidential claimant Alassane Ouattara called for a one-month ban on deliveries remains to be exported, the head of the local sector body CGFCC told Reuters on Monday. "What I can tell you is that as of today, we have one million tonnes registered and 700,000 tonnes exported," CGFCC president Ano Gilbert said. "Three hundred thousand tonnes are in the pipeline."

According to the terms of the ban called by Ouattara as part of efforts to starve incumbent Laurent Gbagbo of cash after an election dispute, cocoa which had been registered before the weekend appeal can still be exported.

Earlier, exporters estimated that cocoa arrivals at ports in top grower Ivory Coast reached around 843,000 tonnes by Jan. 23 compared with 759,408 tonnes in the same period of the previous season.

Gilbert's figure is obtained via a computer system capturing registered volumes at the point they enter the warehouse and is seen as more up to date than the exporters' estimates.

Chocolate Prices on the Rise

By: Maggie Newland

01/25/2011

Politics half way around the world could affect the price you pay for chocolate. Political unrest in the Ivory Coast has led the country's leader to call for a ban on cocoa bean exports from the world's largest cocoa producer.

Local chocolate shops say they'll feel the effects of the ban even if they don't use beans from the Ivory Coast. Chocolate retailers say their costs have already gone up significantly over the past few years.

Some stores have had to raise prices. Other shops say they'll keep prices steady but make smaller size chocolates to deal with the rising cost of cocoa.

Cocoa Has Longest Rally in 15 Months on Ivory Coast Concerns

By Debarati Roy and Isis Almeida

January 25, 2011,

(Bloomberg) -- Cocoa rose, capping the longest rally in 15 months, on mounting concern that exports will be halted from Ivory Coast, the world’s biggest producer.

A one-month export ban announced by Alassane Ouattara, the internationally recognized winner of a Nov. 28 presidential election, is intended to cut off funds to incumbent Laurent Gbagbo, who refuses to step down. Companies risk sanctions should they pay export taxes to the industry body controlled by Gbagbo, the Ouattara administration said.

“If they are going to stick with the ban, then prices could easily climb,” said Matthias Banzhaf, a commodity trader at Tiberius Asset Management AG in Zug, Switzerland

Cocoa for March delivery climbed $23, or 0.7 percent, to settle at $3,335 a metric ton on ICE Futures U.S. at 11:58 a.m. in New York. The most-active contract rose for the seventh straight session, the longest rally since Oct. 22, 2009. The price has gained 19 percent since the end of November.

Prices may rise to $3,720, the highest since January 1979, according to a Bloomberg survey of six analysts.

In London, cocoa for March delivery rose 37 pounds, or 1.7 percent, to close at 2,227 pounds ($3,521) a ton on NYSE Liffe.

“Overall, global production prospects look very good, with the main upside to prices stemming from the Ivory Coast political situation,” Sudakshina Unnikrishnan, an analyst at Barclays Capital in London, said in a report.

Ivory Coast’s production represents a third of global cocoa supplies and is forecast to expand 1.9 percent in the year that began on Oct. 1, according to Macquarie Group Ltd.

Mars Inc. said today in a statement that an Ivorian ban won’t affect its chocolate production in the short term.

Archer Daniels Midland Co. “remains committed” to cocoa farming and was “carefully assessing the situation” in Ivory Coast and any effect of European Union sanctions on its business, Roman Blahoski, a spokesman, said in an e-mail yesterday.

Cargill Inc. said it temporarily suspended bean purchases in Ivory Coast.

Cocoa Factory Faces Shutdown

Peace FM Online –

Jan 26, 2011

US food-processing giant, Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM), is facing problems acquiring light crop beans for processing and imminent disruption in its production line if the supply situation does not improve in the next few months, industry sources have revealed.

The company came very close to shutting down its 30,000-tonne plant located in Kumasi, after laying-off 70 temporary staff, but rescinded the decision after discussions with its main supplier, Ghana Cocoa Board.

Industry experts say ADM’s presence in the industry is vital, as it will help Ghana maintain its reputation as a producer of premium quality cocoa and also create new opportunities for Ghanaian cocoa farmers.

ADM is one of the world’s largest cocoa and chocolate manufacturers, with cocoa-processing plants in Europe, Africa, North America, South America and Asia. The company launched its Ghana plant in Oct 2009 in Kumasi, raising the country's grinding capacity by nearly 10 percent to 350,000 tonnes.

The facility comprised a bean warehouse, a processing plant and a finished goods warehouse which sit on a 75,000 square-metre site. It processes cocoa beans into cocoa liquor for use in chocolate.

Cocoa processing companies in Ghana have in recent times raised concerns with the Cocobod over the dwindling supply of light crop beans, which is sold to them at a 20 percent discount as the main raw material for their plants.

Ghana runs two cocoa seasons the larger main crop runs from October and ends in April (33 – 36 weeks) and the light crop season from May to September.

The light crop, which accounts for roughly a fifth of the annual production, is most preferred by local processing companies. However, in the absence of that, some companies buy the main crop to complement their stock.

Currently, Ghana is in the main crop harvest season - a situation that makes it difficult for Cocobod to get light crop beans for processors as is being demanded by ADM.

“Currently, our beans are growing larger because of good weather and best industry practices… statistics show that we produce 90 percent main crop and 10 percent light crop beans,” Cocobod Public Affairs Manager Noah Amenyah told B&FT in an interview. He said, despite the situation, Cocobod continues to ensure that processing companies receive their share of light crop beans when it is available.

Ghana is world no.2 cocoa-grower after Ivory Coast. Currently Installed processing capacity is about 350,000 tonnes, nearly three times the cumulative output of the sought-after light crop in a year.

SOFTS-Cocoa peaks at 1-yr high, sugar firm

Reuters Africa

By Sarah McFarlane;

Jan 27, 2011

* ICE cocoa futures CCc2 hit a fresh one-year high as the ban on cocoa exports from top grower Ivory Coast continued to underpin prices.

* ICE March cocoa CCc1 rose $20 or 0.6 percent to $3,372 a tonne at 0922 GMT.

* European cocoa butter producers began making inquiries to buy the product from grinders in Asia after offers from Ivory Coast came to a virtual stop over uncertainty in exports from the world's top cocoa bean producer, dealers said Thursday. [ID:nL3E7CR0K0]

* A lack of clarity over Ivorian cocoa exports is causing a significant slowdown in trade and will affect the entire supply chain from farmer to end user, the European Cocoa Association said on Wednesday. [ID:nLDE70P2EW]

* A bullish target at $3,391 per tonne is temporarily aborted for New York cocoa CCc2, as it may correct to $3,259 first, as per a wave pattern and a rally that has exhausted, Reuters analyst Wang Tao said. [ID:nL3E7CR0O7]

SUGAR

* ICE raw sugar futures were slightly higher underpinned by a tight supply outlook.

* ICE March raw sugar SBc1 was up 0.04 cent or 0.2 percent at 33.18 cents a lb at 0927 GMT, while London March white sugar LSUH1 rose $2.90 or 0.4 percent to $802.50 per tonne.

* Premiums for Thai raw sugar slipped by a couple of points on Thursday on the prospect of more sales from India, while a few deals with Japanese consumers helped stir up physical trade after several failed Indonesian tenders. [ID:nL3E7CR06M]

* A bullish target at 33.35 cents per lb has been shifted up to 33.76 cents for New York sugar SBc1, as a fierce wave "3" progresses, according to Reuters market analyst Wang Tao. [ID:nL3E7CR0H8]

COFFEE

* Arabica coffee futures were steady, with the recent fall in prices triggering some light industry buying.

* ICE March arabicas KCc1 traded up 0.3 cent or 0.1 percent at $2.3780 per lb. Liffe March robusta coffee LRCH1

traded down $3 or 0.1 percent at $2,090 per tonne.

* Vietnam's coffee exports this month dropped an estimated 3.7 percent from the same month in 2010 to 140,000 tonnes, or 2.33 million bags, in line with market expectations, the government said on Thursday. [ID:nHAN464764]

* Starbucks Corp (SBUX.O: Quote), the world's largest coffee chain, expects rising coffee prices to hit profits more than it previously thought but stressed that it would not raise prices to cover the extra expense. [ID:nN26189033]

* New York coffee KCc2 is biased to fall to $2.32 per lb, as a rebound in the previous session has not violated a

downtrend formation, according to Reuters market analyst Wang Tao. [ID:nL3E7CR0IX]

OTHER MARKETS

* The U.S. dollar held near 2-1/2 month lows on Thursday, while commodity prices and Asian stocks rose after U.S. Federal Reserve policymakers voted unanimously to maintain a $600 billion bond-buying plan to fuel an economic recovery. [MKTS/GLOB]

* The dollar rose 1 percent on the day versus the yen on Thursday as the Japanese currency extended losses following a downgrade of Japan's government debt rating by Standard and Poor's. [USD/]

* Brent crude hovered near $98 on Thursday after better-than-expected U.S. home sales data and a pledge by the

Federal Reserve to keep monetary policy steady drummed up market sentiment. [O/R]

* European shares dipped on Thursday, hurt by ratings agency Standard & Poor's downgrade of Japan's credit rating to AA-minus from AA, though miners gave the market some support. [.EU]

Nigerian Cocoa Price Jumps 8.2% in a Week After Ivory Coast Ban

Bloomberg 

By Vincent Nwanma

Jan 27, 2011

The price of cocoa in Nigeria, the world’s fourth-largest producer, rose 8.2 percent in the past week after an export ban by the Ivory Coast, the world’s largest producer, according to Abang Neji Abang, secretary general of the Cocoa Association of Nigeria.

Farm-gate prices for the chocolate ingredient rose to 460,000 naira ($3,021) a metric ton today from about 425,000 naira a week ago, Abang said. Prices in London have climbed about 5 percent over the same period.

Cocoa is “increasing almost every day,” Neji said by phone today from Akure, in western Nigeria. Prices had been steady at 425,000 naira for most of the season which started Oct. 1.

“I plan to sell next week,” said David Onyenweaku, a farmer said by phone from Umuahia, in southeastern Nigeria. Some farmers have had to sell beans to pay for farm leases, Neji said.

The harvest is slowing as farmers approach the end of the main-crop season, Neji said. Nigeria’s cocoa year is divided into two harvests. The main-crop harvest begins in October and ends in January, while the light-crop season, the smaller of the two, usually begins in March and ends in June.

Nigeria Exports

Cocoa-bean exports from Nigeria in the first 10 months of last year rose 13 percent to 140,537.5 tons from 124,663 tons a year earlier, according to figures from the Federal Produce Inspection Service, the government agency that supervises exports of cocoa beans.

Nigeria ranks behind Ivory Coast, Ghana and Indonesia in cocoa production, according to the International Cocoa Organization. Cocoa exports are Nigeria’s biggest foreign exchange earner after crude oil, according to figures published the Nigerian government. To contact the reporter on this story: Vincent Nwanma in Lagos via Accra at vnwanma@.

Davos: Nestle: Only Long Term Cocoa Price Rise Could Require Chocolate Hikes

Barron's (blog)

By Vito Racanelli

January 27, 2011,

Nestle (NSRGY) CEO Paul Bulcke said Thursday that the Swiss food giant would raise chocolate prices only if it found that the underlying long trend in cocoa prices had risen and its actions to contain that were not enough to “keep the substance of its business…. It’s not a one to one reaction.” The market won’t absorb that.

Speaking to Barron’s at the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, of which he is a co-chair this year, he added: “Our job is to react to underlying trends, not hiccoughs.” He noted, too, this went for all commodities used in its food production.

Cocoa prices hit a 52-week high Thursday, as political troubles in the Ivory Coast, a top producer of cocoa, have sharply curtailed supplies in recent weeks. Sugar prices are also rising sharply.

For all the concern about soft commodity price rises, there are already reports, for example, that some countries are increasing acreage devoted to cocoa. Nevertheless, if you have a sweet tooth, better keep an eye on cocoa.

World 'faces chocolate drought in 2014'

Economic Times

28 Jan, 2011,

LONDON: The world is facing a chocolate drought ", according to an expert, whose warning is prompted by fears that the globe's sustainable cocoa supplies could be exhausted by 2014.

Political unrest in the Ivory Coast, the source of almost half the world's cocoa beans, has depleted the number of cocoa farmers there. Many have fled the country or are smuggling the crop into Ghana, where it is selling at a far higher price, says British chocolatier Angus Kennedy.

Chocolate makers are now facing the highest cocoa prices for more than 30 years. Prices jumped by 10 per cent this month alone following a curb on international cocoa exports initiated earlier this week by Ivory Coast's President Alassane Ouattara.

Kennedy said that chocolate producers were facing "one of the biggest challenges to hit the industry in recent history".

"Supplies of sustainable cocoa are set to run out, it's that simple. The Ivory Coast is a complete no-go area for cocoa traders as it's too dangerous, so training new farmers and trying to cut problems in the region is now impossible.

"So in effect, its sustainability is not sustainable. Prices can't go up as it's reported because there basically isn't enough certified cocoa left to sell. Things could get nasty now as producers start to fight over the last stocks," the British media quoted him as saying.

Maersk halts Ivorian cocoa exports: official

Fri Jan 28, 2011

ABIDJAN (Reuters) - Danish shipping company Maersk has halted cocoa exports from Ivory Coast and stopped taking new orders for imports to the country, in line with European Union restrictions, an official at the company said on Friday.

Maersk is the main shipper of Ivorian cocoa beans to buyers in the United States and Asia and one of the world's top container carriers.

"We are not loading any more cocoa. It is (because) of the EU decision and our headquarters asked us to respect the decision ..," said an official, who asked not to be named.

The EU has imposed sanctions on Ivory Coast's incumbent leader Laurent Gbagbo, who is locked in a power struggle with rival Alassane Ouattara and has refused international calls to stand down.

The EU restrictions imposed on January 15 refer to EU-registered ships but some analysts suggested shipping firms might get around the ban by using ships registered elsewhere.

So far this season, Maersk has shipped just under half of the cocoa exported from the world's top cocoa grower, according to industry data.

"Our imports ... have been stopped. Goods that were loaded before January 15 will still get there. Clients are calling for new shipments but we are refusing because of the sanctions." The official said the last container shipment would arrive in Ivory Coast on March 15.

ADM Dutch cocoa plant to hit full capacity in Feb

Reuters 

By Ivana Sekularac, Sara Webb

Jan 24, 2011

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Archer Daniels Midland Co (ADM.N) said on Monday its Dutch cocoa processing plant will be fully operational in the second half of February following a fire last week.

"After having completed a preliminary assessment of the incident's impact on our production capabilities, we anticipate that the site will be fully operational in the latter half of February," ADM said in a statement.

A fire broke out in ADM's processing plant at Koog aan de Zaan north of Amsterdam on Wednesday, but the warehouse was unaffected. No one was injured in the fire.

"We are still assessing the impact on production," spokeswoman Elissa Igleheart told Reuters.

A fire at the same plant in late 2003 spread to the cocoa stored in warehouse and burned for several days.

Indonesia May Raise Cocoa Bean Export Tax in February

Bloomberg 

By Eko Listiyorini – J

Jan 24, 2011

Indonesia may raise the export tax on cocoa beans in February due to the increasing price of the commodity, said Zulhefi Sikumbang, Chairman of the Indonesian Cocoa Association.

“We estimate export tax will be increased, but we don’t know how much,” Sikumbang said by phone from Makassar, capital of South Sulawesi province, today.

The price of the chocolate ingredient increased about $100 per to $150 a ton last week and is estimated to be higher as world supply will be short after Ivory Coast banned exports for a month, Sikumbang said.

“Indonesian exporters can’t control the price, so we go along with international price movements,” Sikumbang said.

Indonesia kept the tax rate on cocoa bean exports for January at 10 percent, while raising the base price to $2,593 a ton, Deddy Saleh, director general for foreign trade, said Dec 23. The government sets a base price to determine the amount of tax to impose.

The duty exporters pay on January shipments is $259 a ton, and may be increased for February and the following month to $300 a ton, as the average price for February shipments is at $3,200 a ton, according to Sikumbang.

The cocoa association, known as Askindo, has asked the government to set a fixed duty on exports instead of changing it every month. The government announces the tax rate and base price between the 20th and 25th day of each month.

The price of cocoa products has been increasing by about 8 percent a week due to the rising price of beans, said Piter Jasman, chairman of the Indonesian Cocoa Producers Association. “Production cost is still relatively stable and cheaper compared with cocoa-product manufacturers in Europe,” Jasman said by mobile-phone text message today.

Cocoa butter has risen to $5,250 a ton from $4,800 a ton a week ago, and cocoa powder has increased to $4,500 a ton from $4,200 a ton a week ago, Jasman said.

Cameroon’s Cocoa Exports Drop 9.9% in Week to Jan. 24

Bloomberg - Pius Lukong

Jan 25, 2011

Cameroon’s cocoa exports from the main port of Douala fell 9.9 percent during the week to Jan. 24, according to statistics from the harbor.

Exports stood at 2,650 metric tons, down from 2,940 tons a week earlier, information e-mailed from the port stated today. The average export price was 1,470 CFA francs ($3.05) a kilogram (2.2 pounds), up from 1,450 CFA francs the week before, according to Bloomberg calculations using rates published by the country’s Cocoa and Coffee Inter-Professional Board.

A kilogram of the beans fetched 1,350 CFA francs in the South West, Abong Abraham, President of Ekona Farmers’ Cooperative, said in a telephone interview. Farmers sold the beans at 1,355 CFA francs in the Littoral, 1,450 CFA francs in the Center and at 1,340 CFA francs in the south production zone, according to information e-mailed from the Cocoa and Coffee Information Relay Centers in each region.

Cocoa bean shipment a taste of good news for Camden

Cherry Hill Courier Post 

By EILEEN STILWELL • Courier-Post Staff •

January 25, 2011

CAMDEN — After 14 days at sea, the Atlantic Tramp slipped quietly into a berth at the Beckett Street marine terminal carrying an estimated $60 million in cargo.

The new, 590-foot vessel, which made its maiden voyage up the Delaware River from the West African nation of Ivory Coast on Saturday night, was not carrying flat-screens or Blu-rays. Its 60-foot-deep holds were packed to the brim with cocoa beans -- 283,360 bags or 20,500 tons of them.

The shipment is the largest cocoa bean shipment ever to arrive at the Port of Camden and the largest to come out of West Africa. "It's a miracle we got the ship at all given the political strife in that country," said Jeff Wheeler, who is responsible for getting the ship unloaded as quickly as possible.

As president of Camden International Commodities Terminal, the Medford resident oversees the movement and storage of the delicate beans from ship to processing plant. Sweet spots in New Jersey and Pennsylvania include Hershey, M&M Mars, Bloomer and Wilbur chocolates.

Eighty-four percent of all cocoa beans brought into the United States travel up the Delaware River to be unloaded, warehoused and distributed by truck and rail throughout the region. "It's a raw product that American workers make into something else. It's also a stable commodity that continues to feed the port during down times," Wheeler said.

Last year, CICT handled 140,000 tons of cocoa beans from 16 ship calls.

Those brown, gnarly looking beans are spun gold to workers at South Jersey Port Corp., which has been hit hard by the recession, labor issues and Philadelphia's successful landing of new business.

Despite temperatures in the teens Monday, longshoremen were not griping about the weather.

Emptying the Atlantic Tramp is expected to take seven days and create about 175 jobs over a two-week period, which includes ferrying the beans to a number of warehouses scattered throughout South Jersey.

Cocoa beans have emerged as the port's fourth-strongest commodity, after plywood, steel and scrap.

"People will always spend a dollar to buy chocolate. That's why the price of cocoa has held during the recession. They might hold off buying a new truck or a large item, but they'll always buy chocolate," said Olaf Dimter, managing director of Unicargo Transport, a global company that manages a fleet of eight ships, including the Atlantic Tramp.

The Atlantic Tramp was built with a special ventilating system to prevent condensation in the holds that can spoil the beans. After Camden, it will sail to Savannah to pick up scrap, then head to Turkey. Dimter joined the Croatian and Indonesian crew Monday to inspect the three-month-old ship that was built in China for $33 million.

Agriculture is the top industry in the Ivory Coast or Cote d'Ivoire, a country the size of Florida with 18 million people. It is the No. 1 producer of cocoa, No. 2 in cashew nuts and three in coffee beans.

Human rights organizations have raised concerns about child labor in the country for years.

Capt. MiHo Trojanovic said the voyage had a rough start, when two workers loading the ship died. "They work them so hard, they don't know what they're doing," he said with disgust. "They fall asleep where they shouldn't and they get crushed by a container or a pallet. It's terrible."

ILO Launches support to stop Child Labour on Cocoa Farms in 3 districts

 

26 January 2011

The International Labour Organisation (ILO), through its International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) has commissioned a two year project to assist the government of Ghana to reduce child labour to the barest minimum.

The project dubbed “Support for the Elimination of Worst Forms of Child Labour in the Cocoa sector” was launched in Juaboso last Friday, January 21st 2011.

It will focus on the prevention and withdrawal of children from hazardous work on cocoa farms as well as providing additional livelihood support for vulnerable families and the establishment of a child labour monitoring system that will help ensure that rather than doing dangerous farm work, children will be in school

Speaking at the ceremony, the Chief Technical Advisor of ILO in Ghana, Mr. Francesco d’Ovidio observed that about 215 million children were engaged in child labour globally, with 115 million of these in hazardous work. He explained that although child labour was still declining, the rate has slowed and if this continues the global goal of eliminating worst forms of child labour by 2016 will not be achieved. He said Agriculture is the sector in which the most children were engaged in labour, indicating that in Ghana about 57% of child labourers are in farming, fishing and/or forestry. Mr. d’Ovidio emphasized the need to ensure that the project is sustained through mainstreaming and local participation and ownership.

The District Chief Executive Mr. Solomon Fauchie expressed government’s gratitude to the ILO support, indicating that the District was very concerned about the engagement of children in hazardous work. He mentioned that the District Assembly had mainstreamed child labour interventions into its medium term development policy and was already participating taking steps to stop the menace. The District Magistrate, Mr. Osei Kweku admonished the beneficiary communities to be wary of child labour perpetuators and help to enforce the law by reporting offenders to the appropriate authorities.

The Project is being implemented by Kuapah Kokoo, under the auspices of the National Steering Committee on Child Labour. It will last two years.

Chocolate Drought Predicted, With World Supply of Cocoa Gone by 2014 – OH NO!0

January 29, 2011

Experters are predicting, and chocolate lovers lamenting, that there might be a chocolate ‘drought’ over the next several years due to the world political unrest especially in the Ivory Coast that produces 40 percent of the world’s cocoa beans.

The political unrest in the country have caused certified cocoa bean producers to either flee or drastically reduce their output while training programs that can create new cocoa bean producers meeting fair trade standards, no longer exist. The immediate result is 30 percent higher chocolate prices – the long term result is no sustainable cocoa by 2014.

The rest of the world’s certified producers could not produce enough to meet demand and replace the production lost in the Ivory Coast. On average it takes three of more years to become a certified sustainable cocoa bean farmer and extensive training is needed.

Even when the political unrest settles in the Ivory Coast it would take three years to produce enough for current demand and for prices to go back now to former levels.

Valued Opinions Reveals Britain as A Nation of Milk Chocolate Lovers

PR- (press release)

Jan 23, 2011

Valued Opinions has revealed that the UK has the second highest consumption of chocolate per person in the whole of Europe, and that the confectionary market is worth a staggering 4 billion pounds.

A recent Valued Opinions online poll has found out the favorite type of chocolate: two thirds of Brits (66%) like milk chocolate the best whilst 22% prefer dark chocolate and 12% would choose white chocolate. Just 1% of all respondents of the online opinion poll didn't like chocolate at all, reflecting the fact that for most of the people in Britain, chocolate is a luxury they can't live without.

Although chocolate has traditionally been regarded as a naughty-but-nice treat, recent scientific research into its chemical properties has revealed that it has important health benefits. Raw cacao has the highest antioxidant value of any natural food. Among other things, it also improves heart function, helps to reduce cholesterol and high-blood pressure and has a wealth of stress-busting, feel-good and anti-depressant chemicals.

Evidence has suggested that consuming small quantities of high-quality dark chocolate (which, according to Valued Opinions, around a fifth of Brits consider their favorite) has some measurable health benefits including lowering blood pressure and cholesterol and increasing insulin sensitivity.

However, consumers won't get a chocolate-induced bill of health from the cheaper chocolate bars that stack the UK shelves. The majority of milk and white chocolate is made from cocoa beans that have been roasted, treated with alkalis or other chemicals. These processes strip the beans of virtually any valuable nutrition. The chocolate is then bulked out with additives such as hydrogenated oils, animal fats, refined sugar, dairy products and chemical preservatives; all of which make it a less than healthy option.

Milk chocolate typically contains around 20% milk fat which aside from being calorie laden also inhibits the body's absorption of cocoa's antioxidants. White chocolate, which many consider not to be proper chocolate because it contains no cocoa solids, doesn't fare any better; a recent Cornell University study found that it yielded no measurable health benefits at all.

This is bad news for milk chocolate-loving Brits. Most chocolate produced for the UK market is milkier and contains less cocoa than chocolate in the rest of Europe. In 2003, the Food Standards Authority was pleased when the EU regulations allowed British chocolate to have 20% (rather than the former 25%) cocoa solids in order to be classified as real chocolate.

It might not be good quality and it's certainly not healthy, but market research shows that Britons like cheap, sweet, milky chocolate and the FSA argues that they should be allowed to continue making and eating it.

About Valued Opinions:

Valued Opinions is an online opinion poll platform where members have the opportunity to earn rewards by participating in paid online surveys. Through various partnerships with popular retailers such as , Tesco and HMV, Valued Opinions provides its members with attractive rewards in exchange for completing online paid surveys.

The survey topics are tailored to their member's preferences and can include anything from green issues to healthy living, fast food to slow trains, politicians to favourite film. Made up of more than 2 million members globally, the Valued Opinions community provides market research companies with access to untapped opinions from a large database of consumers.

Chocolate lovers face price rise as ingredients soar

New Zealand Herald - Christopher Adams –

Jan 24, 2011

Nestle, whose chocolate products include Scorched Almonds and Kit Kat, is reviewing its pricing. Photo / Sarah Ivey A rally in raw ingredient costs is cutting into the profits of New Zealand chocolate manufacturers, and firms say customers could face price rises of as much as 15 per cent this year.

One company is warning of a "shockwave" through the local industry as global commodity prices filter through.

A political crisis in Africa's Ivory Coast - the world's largest cocoa producer - pushed cocoa to a 11-month high of US$3250 ($4282) a tonne on Friday. And the price was set to climb higher overnight after Ivory Coast's president-elect, Alassane Ouattara, ordered a halt in all coffee and cocoa exports until February 23 in an attempt to cut off vital revenues to his rival, incumbent president Laurent Gbagbo.

Maurice Gunnell, manager of corporate services at Nestle New Zealand, said the firm had faced a 400 per cent increase in its cocoa costs over the past two years. The situation in the Ivory Coast would be of concern, Gunnell said.

Nestle, whose chocolate products include Scorched Almonds and Kit Kat, is reviewing its pricing. "The extent of the commodity price increases are so huge that we can't absorb all of it and therefore we will have to pass on some form of price increase over the next couple of months," Gunnell said, adding that the increase would be "single digit".

A 9 per cent increase would lift the price of a Kit Kat Chunky bar bought for $2.30 up to $2.50.

Cadbury corporate affairs manager Aimee Driscoll said the company was facing pressure from fluctuating commodity costs but was unable to say whether that pressure would result in price increases for its customers.

Paul Donovan, chief chocolate maker at Hamilton's Donovans Chocolates, said rising sugar and cocoa prices took some time to filter through to New Zealand confectionary makers and there would likely be a "shockwave" through the entire industry over the next few months.

The price of sugar on the London market hit a record this month.

Donovan said his firm sourced its cocoa from more politically stable Ghana, although he said developments in the neighbouring Ivory Coast had a big impact on the global price of the commodity. He said consumers would face price increases of up to 15 per cent for their chocolate this year.

Ivory Coast has an annual cocoa crop worth $2.1 billion, which accounts for one-third of the global supply.

Ivory Coast's Alassane Ouattara Wants EU Sanctions on 5 Cocoa Exporters

By Pauline Bax –

Jan 27, 2011

Reuters-The administration of Ivory Coast’s President-Elect, Alassane Ouattara, called for European Union sanctions against five cocoa exporters who defied his call for a month-long suspension of exports to pressure the government of Laurent Gbagbo, who has refused to step down as president.

“Five shippers have decided to effectuate unauthorized operations in defiance of the ban,” Guillame Soro, Ouattara’s prime minister, said in an e-mailed statement today. “As a result the companies and their managers will be proposed to the sanctions committees of the United Nations, the European Union and the U.S.”

The list included Safcacao, Ivory Coast’s largest locally owned cocoa exporter. Cocoa upon which taxes have already been paid can be shipped, Ouattara’s administration has said.

DAVOS-UPDATE 1-Activists challenge Nestle on I. Coast cocoa

Fri Jan 28, 2011

DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan 28 (Reuters) - Global activists challenged major Western chocolate makers, including Swiss food giant Nestle, not to buy cocoa from Ivory Coast as long as exports are controlled by Laurent Gbagbo.

The incumbent lost a presidential election in December, according to U.N.-certified results, but has refused to hand over power to his rival, former prime minister Alessane Ouattara, who has banned cocoa exports to raise financial pressure on Gbagbo to yield office.

Avaaz, a global campaigning organisation, planned to run a front-page advert in the Financial Times calling on Nestle and other leading chocolate companies operating in Ivory Coast to help prevent civil war by refusing to purchase cocoa from what it called "Laurent Gbagbo's illegal regime".

The international community has recognised Ouattara's victory but Gbagbo says he is the legitimate president because a constitutional council -- which was packed with his supporters -- invalidated ballots from northern regions loyal to Ouattara and declared the incumbent the winner.

"Conflict chocolate is bankrolling bloodshed. Chocolate lovers around the world want the industry to take a stand and deal only with the democratically elected government of Ivory Coast," Avaaz executive director Rick Patel said in a statement. He said six companies had given such assurances so far.

The Financial Times did not print the advert on Friday although Avaaz said it would do so on Saturday. "We were disappointed to discover that the Financial Times didn't run the Nestle advert today but it will now be appearing in tomorrow's paper." said Avaaz campaign director Alice Jay.

However, Nestle chairman Peter Brabeck told Reuters his company did not export cocoa from Ivory Coast, and criticised the boycott campaign as unfair to African farmers.

"Sometimes these boycotts are not necessarily helping the cause they want to help by pushing hundreds of thousands of small farmers into even greater poverty," Brabeck said on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum Davos. "I don't think that's the right thing to do."

Cocoa Shortage Will Prove Sweet News for Top Makers

By Anthony Alfidi

Jan 28, 2011

Resource investors worry about Peak Oil and Peak Gold. Now they can start worrying about Peak Chocolate. Certified fair-trade cocoa growers are abandoning the business: Political unrest in the Ivory Coast, where 40 per cent of the world’s cocoa beans are grown, has ‘significantly’ depleted the number of certified fair trade cocoa farmers.

Cocoa beans, unlike minerals or hydrocarbon deposits, are a renewable resource but the ideal conditions for their growth are limited. Like the best wine-growing regions, cocoa harvesting is a special source of supply subject to localized disruptions.

Reduced availability of cocoa means smaller producers will face margin pressure before large producers. Companies with global supply chains – like Nestle (NSRGY.PK) and Hershey (HSY) – can rapidly adjust their sourcing. Furthermore, their brand strength gives them pricing power as demand for their well-known candy bars is probably price inelastic. A Hershey chocolate bar is a known entity far more likely to retain its consumer appeal than a boutique fair-trade bar. Hershey doesn’t disclose its suppliers but has a supply base in the hundreds, diverse enough to weather disruptions. That gives it flexibility that your favorite overpriced fair-trade certified organic candy maker does not have.

Rising prices for commodities are already compressing margins for producers in every sector. Now chocolate makers will experience the same pressure. Those with the most flexible supply chains will be left standing when the dust settles. High-minded fair-trade protest campaigns won’t hurt larger producers if fair-trade growers aren’t in business anymore due to political instability. The surge of boutique fair-trade chocolate makers in the last decade has likely run its course.

Chocolate Nations: Living and Dying for Cocoa in West Africa

Jeremy Hardin

The Guardian,

29 January 2011

Akosua Boadu harvesting cocoa on her farm in the village of Amankwaatia, Ghana. Photograph: Simon Rawles/@simonrawles

Six years ago, Órla Ryan was covering the commodities market for Reuters in London. Later she was sent to Ghana to report on the country's cocoa trade, where City stats and prices turned vividly into life and death issues for cocoa farmers. Chocolate Nations is a fascinating account of the struggles of cocoa producers in West Africa, almost all of them smallholders, and what it takes to turn a crop of cocoa into a warehouse full of Ferrero Rocher.

Bottom of Form

Pricing and speculation are obvious threats to a farmer's livelihood but so are pests, of which there's no shortage for the tricky little evergreen, Theobroma cacao, brought to Ghana by a migrant returning from Fernando Po in 1879. Caterpillar and black pod are common. Witches' broom turns the beans to mush inside the pod, and wiped out huge harvests in Brazil during the 1980s, when it was still the world's second largest producer.

Another menace is the political process in West Africa. Within a few years of Ghana's independence in 1957, farmers were hit by huge tax rises. The theory, President Kwame Nkrumah wrote in his autobiography, was that cocoa "belongs to the country. We had to think of the general public as well as the cocoa farmers".

Farmers were sceptical. Why had their leader ordered up a presidential frigate and spent millions on a conference of African leaders in Accra? By the late 70s, Ghana's Cocoa Marketing Board was buying from farmers at £347 a tonne; world prices at the time, Ryan tells us, "were in excess of £3,000". In the 80s, the government raised prices for Ghana's producers, under pressure from the IMF, and yields began to increase. But by then, farmers were smuggling their beans into Côte d'Ivoire to get a better deal, and Ghana had been displaced by its neighbour as the leading producer.

In 2002 a rebellion erupted in Côte d'Ivoire. The heart of the matter was land rights: the post-independence leader, Félix Houphouët-Boigny, had opened up land to migrants from the north to create a massive cocoa sector and a flourishing sideline in coffee. The policy worked, but after Houphouët's death in 1993 and the economic downturn, there were bitter disputes over land allocations. Did a migrant family "own" a piece of land just because they'd worked it since the 60s? Equally, could people in the capital, Abidjan, who hadn't visited a plot for a generation, claim it as theirs? The result was a head-on confrontation about Ivorian identity. If you came from the north, or had a northern (Muslim) name, you were a foreigner.

Despite the intensity of the violence, Ryan says, beans continued to move to the port. Cocoa was too crucial for the government and the farmers for anyone to loosen their grip. When the northern opposition – Les Forces nouvelles – started levying money on producers who bypassed the capital and ran their crops directly into Togo, rebel takings reached $30m in one year. "The ubiquity of Ivorian beans," Ryan writes, "is such that . . . nearly every [chocolate] bar you buy will contain at least some from its plantations." It's a safe assumption that a 2011-vintage Twix will contain Ivorian ingredients, even though last year's harvest was hit by bad weather and disease.

Political conflict has also dealt a blow. President Laurent Gbagbo's refusal to acknowledge defeat in last November's elections has produced a new round of violence in Côte d'Ivoire and held up delivery. Cocoa prices in the City have been jittery but our love of chocolate can still be indulged at a snip, while citizens of Côte d'Ivoire prepare for the worst.

Ryan has a salutary lesson in her book about why it doesn't do to spill too many beans. Back in the 80s, Gbagbo was a rising star in Paris. At the time he made friends with a hyperactive French Canadian commodities reporter, Guy André Kieffer, who headed out for Côte d'Ivoire in the post-Houphouët era to work for a cocoa auditing company. In Abidjan Kieffer got into the dangerous habit of recycling his in-house reports to the Ivorian press.

When the IMF told Côte d'Ivoire to abolish the state price-setter, the government created five new price regulators to do what their predecessor had done, under the guise of market pluralism. It also introduced new levies on producers to fund the lifestyle of managers and minions in the new buyers' cartel.

Farmers saw less from deregulation than the IMF had hoped. Kieffer, who spoke out on this and other shady operations in the cocoa business, disappeared in 2004. His wife and brothers travelled to Côte d'Ivoire, where Gbagbo assured them he would try to find their relative, but nothing came of it. After last year's election, it was the president's turn to disappear, but he dug his heels in. Whatever happens next, signs of a return to normal in Órla Ryan's leading "chocolate nation" are not too encouraging.

TIT BITS

EU industry not hit by ivorian cocoa export ban

HAMBURG (2011-01-27) :The announcement of a cocoa export ban in ivory coast will not hit european chocolate and confectionery makers in the short term, the association of european chocolate, biscuit and confectionery industries caobisco said on tuesday. cocoa futures rose sharply on monday after ivory coast's presidential claimant alassane ouattara called for a month-long ban on cocoa exports.

cocoa at fresh one-year high

NEW YORK (2011-01-27) :Us cocoa futures closed at a fresh one-year high on tuesday as major exporters heeded to a call to ban exports from top grower ivory coast, but the rally may be overdone. six major exporters of cocoa from ivory coast - including cargill, the top exporter of ivorian beans - are heeding presidential claimant alassane ouattara's call for a ban, a move designed to cut funds to incumbent leader laurent gbagbo.

Us midday: cocoa climbs

NEW YORK (2011-01-27) :cocoa futures on ice touched a fresh one-year peak early on wednesday, as six major exporters adhered to a call for a cocoa export ban from ivory coast and new sales offers from the top grower wound down. arabica coffee futures soared as high as 3.9 percent, taking back losses from the past two days, after fund buying triggered automatic buy stops, dealers said.

African states at odds on ivory coast crisis

KAMPALA (2011-01-26) :Cracks emerged on tuesday in african efforts to end a power struggle gripping ivory coast, as uganda became the latest country to question united nations recognition of alassane ouattara as its president. ugandan president yoweri museveni said he differed from the un line on the crisis, as a delegation of west african states prepared a us trip to lobby president barack obama and un secretary-general ban ki-moon to back a possible use of force to oust incumbent leader laurent gbagbo.

New york cocoa hits year high

NEW YORK (2011-01-26) :cocoa futures raced to their highest levels in a year on monday but closed off the day's highs in a measured response to a call for a one-month ban on ivory coast cocoa exports. several analysts were sanguine about the call's potential impact as they expected that beans would continue to flow despite the political impasse.

Liffe cocoa rises

LONDON (2011-01-26) :Liffe may cocoa ended 15 pounds higher at 2,176 pounds ($3,436) a tonne on tuesday after rising to a six-month peak of 2,269 pounds on monday. prices first soared after ivory coast's alassane outtara declared a month-long export ban, and six exporters said they had heeded his call, but it remains unclear how the ban will affect global supply because the main cocoa crop has already been exported.

Us midday: cocoa little changed

NEW YORK (2011-01-26) :cocoa was little changed near one-year peaks in volatile trade early on tuesday, as dealers waited to see whether a call to ban exports from top producer ivory coast would affect supplies. sugar and coffee futures fell, caught up in a drop in the commodities complex, as markets fretted about economic tightening in asia, a key consumer of raw materials.

Liffe cocoa up on ivorian export ban call

LONDON (2011-01-25) :Liffe may cocoa ended 47 pounds higher at 2,161 pounds a tonne on monday after earlier rising to a six-month peak of 2,269 pounds. prices soared after ivory coast's alassane outtara declared a month-long export ban although dealers said the initial surge in prices was overdone with the market set to remain well supplied.

Us midday: cocoa surges to 1-year peak

NEW YORK (2011-01-25) :Ice cocoa hit a one-year high early on monday after ivory coast's presidential claimant alassane ouattara urged a month-long ban on exports from the top producer to stop cash reaching rival laurent gbagbo.

London cocoa trade under the spotlight

London has had a long history of trading cocoa, but the City's exchange is now controlled by New York's LIFFE, and has come under scrutiny in recent years over several attempts to corner the market by hedge funds[pic][pic]

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Issue No. 424 24th – 28th January 2011

Inside THIS ISSE:

UP-COMING EVENTS IN THIS ISSUE

• ICCO DAILY COCOA PRICES

• LONDON (LIFFE) FUTURES MARKET UPDATE

• NEW YORK (ICE) FUTURES MARKET UPDATE

• FROM THE NEWS MEDIA

• TIT BITS

• Course on products from cocoa by-products – 21st February – 4th March 2011, New Tafo-Akyem, Ghana

• Sub-committee of the COPAL 50th Anniversary – 15th March 2011[pic][?]

+\]^_òáɳ?³…hI5 – ICCO Board Room, 1-19 New Oxford Street, London, United Kingdom.

• Selection Committee for the post of New Secretary General – 16th March 2011 - ICCO Board Room, 1-19 New Oxford Street, London, United Kingdom.

• Market Committee of Experts – 17th March 2011 - ICCO Board Room, 1-19 New Oxford Street, London, United Kingdom.

Do your health a favour, drink Cocoa everyday

‘It’s nature’s miracle food’

Others

Promotion & Consumption

Research & Development

Environmental Issue

Labour Issues

Business & Economy

Processing & Manufacturing

The Market

Production & Quality

Health and Nutrition

NEWS

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