ICCO sees record 2013/14 Ivory Coast cocoa crop

Cocoa pods

Record cocoa output from the world's top two growers will not be enough to erase a global deficit in 2013/14, the International Cocoa Organization (ICCO) said on Tuesday.
Speaking at the World Cocoa Conference in Amsterdam, Dr Jean-Marc Anga, executive director of the ICCO, forecast 2013/14 cocoa output from top grower Ivory Coast at a record 1.7 million tonnes.
The second-largest grower Ghana was also expected to see record production of 900,000 tonnes in 2013/14.
Last month the ICCO forecast a global cocoa deficit of 75,000 tonnes in 2013/14, reducing the size of the shortfall from a previously projected 115,000 tonnes. It did not publish a breakdown of producers' output.
"When we look at the statistics produced by the ICCO or other stakeholders it is clear we have entered a period of structural deficit as far as supply is concerned," Anga said.