However, Hightower Report analyst Terry Roggensack says the bearish trend of cocoa prices will not end soon. Last month, April 2017, the mid-crop harvest season started in western African countries, where the majority of the globe's cocoa beans are produced (the mid-crop season contributes more than one-fifth to full-year cocoa bean output). In that month alone, prices declined 12 percent.

Meanwhile, Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara urges local cocoa farmers to boost production (as well as the quality of the beans). Therefore, the nation is now on track to see a record harvest this year that will continue to put pressure on prices.

The International Cocoa Organization (ICCO) projects a steep increase in cocoa production in Ivory Coast in the 2016-2017 season (the season starts in October and runs until the end of September in the next year), ranging between 1.9 - 2.0 million, up from an estimated production of 1.6 million tons in the preceding season.

Indonesia is the world's third-largest cocoa bean producer with most plantations located on the island of Sulawesi. There is a total of 1.7 million hectares of cocoa plantations in Indonesia. However, Indonesia's cocoa trees are relatively old, most of them being planted in the 1980s, and therefore productivity continues to decline. Problematically, more than 90 percent of cocoa plantations in Indonesia are owned by smallholder farmers and they lack the financial means to invest in new trees. Another problem is that farmers tend to switch to other agricultural crops such as rubberrice and corn that are considered more profitable.

Cocoa Production 2015/2016:

Country Production
  (in tons)
Ivory Coast  1,581,000
Ghana    778,000
Indonesia    350,000
Ecuador    232,000
World  4,031,000

Source: International Cocoa Organization (ICCO)

Cocoa Price Projection:

Period    Price
(USD/ton)
Q1-2017    2,078
Q2-2017    1,846
Q3-2017    1,816
Q4-2017    1,842
Full Year 2017    1,896

Source: World Bank

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