Global cocoa grindings rise, but struggle to meet pre-pandemic levels

The German Confectionery Association (BDSI) said its cocoa grindings in Germany continued to increase for the second quarter in a row with levels reaching pre-pandemic levels.

BDSI  members reported grindings of 108,615.0 tonnes of cocoa in the 2nd quarter of 2021. This is a significant plus of 16.35% compared to the same quarter of the previous year. Compared to the first quarter of 2019 (pre-coronavirus period), grindings increased by 5.1%.

The average daily price of the nearby cocoa futures contract stood at US$2,322 per tonne in London during 2020/21, down by almost 2% year-on-year from US$2,358 per tonne recorded in the preceding season, while in New York it remained flat at US$ 2,508 per tonne compared to US$2,510 per tonne in 2019/20, according to the ICCO report.

National Confectioners Association data showed that although North American cocoa grindings rose 4.3% in the third quarter from a year earlier, they were up by 3.6% when compared with the third quarter of pre-pandemic 2019.

And Asian cocoa-bean grindings rose 4.1% in the third quarter from a year earlier, according to figures from the Cocoa Association of Asia. Asia’s cocoa grindings stood at 210,970 metric tonnes in the quarter compared with 202,665 tonnes in the same period of 2020.