Runnymede Institute

On the 17th of June 2010, it was widely reported that a mystery trader bought up all of Europe’s cocoa, the biggest transaction in 14 years, 658 million smackeroonies. In relative terms, holding anything tangible is better than fiat pulp. This chap’s in profit!

Abidjan 2011

Cocoa prices jumped to near their highest in 30 years on Monday as top producer Ivory Coast’s Alassane Ouattara declared a month-long export ban to stop revenues reaching his rival for the country’s presidency. U.S. agribusiness giant Cargill, which typically buys about 15 percent of Ivory Coast’s cocoa crop, said it had temporarily suspended cocoa bean purchases from the West African country, and the U.S. State Department backed the ban.

Dealers said the market was confused over the impact of Sunday’s call by Ouattara — internationally recognized as the victor of a Nov. 28 election — given that incumbent Laurent Gbagbo controls cocoa flows out of the country. After initially surging by more than 7 percent, cocoa futures in London and New York subsided to close 2-4 percent higher. Dealers said much of the last crop had already been exported and some additional supplies would likely find their way to market despite the ban. Read More…