Reuters is reporting that the Macquarie Bank London, predicts the average price of cocoa will rise in 2009. “With supply-side risks remaining high, prices will be volatile, average 126.5 cents per lb. in 2008 and 137 cents per lb. in 2009,” says a commodity strategist at the bank, Kona Haque. “A more-balanced market from 2010 should help international prices soften thereafter.”
Cocoa futures set a 28-year peak on ICE (IntercontinentalExchange) on July 1, due in part by crop concerns in Ivory Coast and Indonesia.” From a historical perspective, cocoa prices are still very cheap in real terms. At current levels, cocoa prices would need to rise almost 3-fold to reach their all time high in real terms,” Haque says.
Source: Flex News/Reuters: Cocoa Prices to Rise in 2009 - Macquarie Bank
