SINGAPORE: Global cocoa stocks dropped to 1.32 million metric tons in July, from 1.79 million tons in September last year, but bean production could recover in the new year starting next month, a senior official of the International Cocoa Organization (ICCO) said on Thursday.

Global cocoa prices roughly tripled this year to an all-time high by April after adverse weather, bean disease, smuggling and reduced plantations in favour of illegal gold mining cut production and availability of beans.

World cocoa production is likely to recover in the 2024/25 year starting in October, Michel Arrion, executive director of ICCO, told Reuters on the sidelines of an industry conference in Singapore.

“I think cocoa will remain attractive for most of the cocoa producers in West Africa, so we can expect some kind of catching up, maybe not at the level of production two years ago, but still at a reasonable number,” he said, adding it was too early to make any precise forecast.

“Of course, climate change will remain, and unfortunately, the disease will remain, but the weather conditions can improve.”

Cocoa farmers in Ghana, the world’s second largest producer, expect a boost in the 2024/2025 season starting in October after a sharp fall in production this season contributed to the higher global cocoa prices.

London cocoa prices slip back, sugar also falls

Cocoa Prices have eased from record highs of around $11,700 per metric ton in April, but are still up 70% this year amid a steep decline in production in Ghana and Ivory Coast which account for over 60% of global supply.

The inter-governmental ICCO, in a quarterly update, has cut its forecast for global production by 129,000 tons to 4.332 million tons, although the impact was partially offset by a reduction in expected global grindings of 104,000 tons to 4.751 million.