GLOBAL – The International Cocoa Organization (ICCO), a global organization, composed of both cocoa producing and cocoa consuming countries, has forecasted a global cocoa surplus of 42,000 tonnes in the 2019/20 season, which runs from October to September due to the corona virus pandemic.

The inter-governmental body had previously forecast there would be a global deficit of 80,000 tonnes in 2019/20 with the change driven by lower than previously anticipated grindings due mainly to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The impact of the coronavirus disease continues to be experienced across chocolate confectionery processing and sales facilities and this has contributed to a year of declining grindings,” the ICCO said in a quarterly report.

The ICCO cut its forecast for world grindings in the 2019/20 season to 4.635 million tonnes, down from its previous projection of 4.783 million and now 3.1% below the prior season’s 4.784 million.

The impact was partially offset by a cut to the ICCO’s global production forecast for 2019/20 to 4.724 million tonnes, down from 4.750 million seen previously and now 1.2% below the prior season’s 4.780 million.

“Efforts to keep supplies flowing and to curb the COVID-19 pandemic from spreading have been a priority for producing countries. Cocoa production has generally shown resilience but concerns still remain as COVID-19 prevails,” the ICCO said.

“This is because farmers may have less flexibility as they operate on a particular planting and harvesting schedule. Social distancing and quarantine measures are likely to disrupt the operations of cocoa farmers.”

The International Cocoa Organization (ICCO) is a global organization, composed of both cocoa producing and cocoa consuming countries with a membership.

Located in London, ICCO was established in 1973 to put into effect the first International Cocoa Agreement which was negotiated in Geneva at a United Nations International Cocoa Conference. There have since been seven Agreements.

The Seventh International Cocoa Agreement was negotiated in Geneva in 2010 and came into force provisionally on 1 October 2012.

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