GLOBAL 2/ – ICCO predicts cocoa shortage

MILAN – While cocoa prices are soaring on New York and London commodity markets, the International Cocoa Organization predicts a global cocoa shortage of 103,000 metric tons this year.
The ICCO daily price per metric ton, averaging the nearest three months of futures trading in New York and London, neared $2,000 over recent days, while New York futures ended last week at $1,926.
Cocoa trees thrive in tropical rain forests with hot, humid weather and enough rain to keep the soil moist. But Ivory Coast and Ghana, two west African countries that make up the heart of the cocoa bean world, are in the worst drought in living memory, limiting yields on mature cocoa trees and killing younger ones altogether.