Cocoa bean beats Bitcoin
Cocoa has been named the best-performing commodity of the year, outperforming Bitcoin, according to Bloomberg. The crypto coin was arguably the most watched asset this year, as it smashed the long-awaited $100,000 threshold in early December.
Prices for chocolate’s main ingredient have almost tripled since the start of 2024 as faltering production in West Africa — the world’s biggest growing region — led to massive supply shortages, the publication wrote, citing exchange data.
In early January, cocoa futures traded at around $4,000 per tonne. In mid-December they peaked at $12,700 per tonne, according to data from Trading Economics.
The gains of Bitcoin “pale in comparison,” wrote financial news website MarketWatch. The best-known cryptocurrency and the biggest by market capitalization, gained nearly 128%, rising from just over $41,000 per coin in early January to a peak of $106,500 in mid-December. Bitcoin has rallied partly due to investor expectations of crypto-friendly policies from US President-elect Donald Trump’s administration.
Poor cocoa harvests have been attributed to extreme weather and fertilizer shortages. Severe drought has hit West Africa this year, with temperatures above 40C breaking records in the Ivory Coast and Ghana, the world’s two biggest producers of cocoa beans.
West Africa is also grappling with a severe soil health crisis with two-thirds of the region’s land being degraded, and fertilizer application rates lagging far behind global averages, according to the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA).
Many African countries are dependent on fertilizer imports from Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine. The reduced supply following the escalation on the Ukraine conflict in 2022 has resulted in shortages and price hikes.
According to Trading Economics, ongoing supply challenges, exacerbated by climate change and lack of fertilizer, are expected to keep cocoa prices at historically high levels in the coming year.
