“The world cocoa deficit will rise to 136,000 tonnes in 2013/14, with unfavourable weather and demand recovery leading to the second consecutive annual deficit,” said Public Ledger head of bulk commodities Emile Mehmet. “We are seeing output declines for both Ivory Coast and Ghana, two of the world’s leading producers with increasing demand in most importing regions.
“This, combined with the issues being faced by the dairy industry, indicates that milk chocolate will face supply and price pressure during the coming festive season.”
Agra’s Dairy Markets senior news analyst Richard Dillon said: “The pinch point for EU milk production came last spring, when seasonal flush volumes did not materialise due to unusually harsh weather conditions.
“Since then, business customers have found the lack of supplies and rising prices impacting on their businesses.
“The fact that short supplies in the cocoa market are coinciding with shortages and price hikes in the dairy milk and butter markets and the high demand Christmas season form an almost ‘perfect storm’ scenario for both producers and consumers.
“Chocolate lovers are going to have to dig deeper into their purses this Christmas.”
Source: Informa
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