Cocoa hits record high amid concerns over market deficits in the United States

Cocoa prices have reached record highs due to concerns over potential supply shortages for the fourth year in a row. This concern is being fueled by dry weather conditions in West Africa, which is expected to reduce cocoa supply, and speculators betting on price increases. The physical market trading for cocoa is experiencing delays and cash flow issues due to rising futures trading costs. Despite an increase in cocoa arrivals at Ivory Coast ports, the country's top producer, the arrivals are behind previous seasons. Low output from Ghana, the world's second-largest producer, has also contributed to low cocoa stocks in ICE warehouses. Other soft commodities such as arabica coffee, robusta, raw sugar, and white sugar have also seen price movements.

By Maytaal Angel LONDON (Reuters) - Cocoa prices hit record highs on Wednesday as fears grew that there will be more demand than supply of the chocolate ingredient for a fourth consecutive season. Dealers are cutting their supply expectations for West Africa after dry weather, while speculators are once again taking new long positions in futures or betting on price gains. “Prices look set to move higher. We haven’t seen a counter-trend move yet,” broker StoneX said. Meanwhile, physical market trading has come to a near standstill and is facing delays in payments as traders run out of cash due to rising futures trading costs, an industry source told Reuters. Cocoa futures on the New York Stock Exchange, used as a benchmark for the price of physical cocoa worldwide, hit an all-time high of $12,931 a metric ton before paring gains to close up 6.8% at $12,565 a ton. “Things are pretty tough right now. People are running on tight cash flow, so they’re focusing on delaying payments to ...