Cocoa is more expensive than copper after surpassing $9000 for first time ever

Cocoa prices surged on Monday for the fourth straight session, surpassing $9000 a tonne for the first time ever due to a supply crisis as chocolate producers struggle to procure the grains. 

Cocoa futures surged by 50% this month, with prices already doubling this year as the industry faces a crisis due to bad weather and crop disease in West Africa, where most of the world’s cocoa is produced. 

The Price

Cocoa prices surged by 5.4%, or $479 a tonne today to $9400, the highest ever, with a session-high at $8889. 

Cocoa rose by 4.5% on Friday, the third profit in a row due to concerns about global supplies.

Cocoa surged by 11.5% last week, the second weekly profit in a row as the supply crisis grows. 

The prices are approaching $10 thousand a tonne, which was unthinkable just a few months ago, and makes cocoa costlier than the industrial metal copper. 

Which are Chocolate Costs Surging? 

The extreme rise in cocoa prices will boost chocolate prices throughout the year, with several manufacturers already trimming the sizes of their products or advertising other items with different ingredients to weather the hit.  

How EU Regulations Contribute to the Crysis 

The cocoa supply crisis could worsen soon as the EU imposes regulations to ban products that contributed to forest destruction, which could complicate efforts by European chocolate manufacturers to procure supplies. 

West African Harvest 

The West African cocoa harvest has been unusually small this year, with Côte d'Ivoire authorities warning of low harvests this season.