Tensions between cocoa-producing countries and manufacturers over the purchase price of beans have led to a surge in prices on the international market, even as demand is at half mast with the Covid-19 pandemic.

On the New York market, a ton of cocoa for delivery in December, a contract which is therefore coming to an end soon, has risen by more than 25% since last Friday, to peak at 2,915 dollars, at a level not seen since. the start of the pandemic.

This is not a cause for celebration for cocoa-producing countries, warn market observers: this jump in prices is on the contrary the consequence of the conflict which opposes them to their buyers, the exporters who then resell to the chocolate industry.

"The dispute over prices pushed buyers to turn to other, cheaper sources, so they fell back on the New York market," said Rabobank analyst Andrew Rawlings.

In West Africa, Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire, which represent two-thirds of world production, have joined forces since 2019 to try to obtain more from the chocolate industry, on the model for example of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC.

Abidjan and Accra had obtained from their buyers a bonus of 400 dollars per ton of cocoa, called Differential of Decent Income (DRD) and applied from the 2020-21 campaign. But since then, the pandemic has ravaged global demand, and buyers are reluctant to see prices rise when supply is abundant.

“There was a request to lower the premium, which was apparently refused. One of the confectionery giants decided to turn to the reserves” specific to exchanges such as ICE in New York, instead to buy directly from the producing countries as the big manufacturers usually do, explains Judith Ganes, analyst of the raw materials market.

According to the Bloomberg agency, which cites anonymous sources who witnessed the transaction, the buyer is Hershey, one of the largest American confectioners.

"We do not comment on our purchasing activities, we buy cocoa from a variety of sources," Hershey responded in a text sent to AFP. "We pay the DRD" on the harvest which begins "and in addition, we invest in agricultural education", specifies the group.

The world's number one chocolate, the American confectioner Mars, also claims in a press release that it is "one of the first buyers of the 2020/2021 harvest, on which we have paid the DRD."

On the New York market, the contract for delivery in March, less directly affected, saw its price jump nearly 16% to 2,740 dollars. In London, the ton of cocoa was exchanged on Friday for 1,829 pounds sterling, up 13.5% compared to last week.

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