COCOA

In accordance with the regulations of Cocoa traded on Intercontinental Exchange Futures United States (ICE US).

Introduce

Cacao originates from Central America and Mexico, discovered by the indigenous Aztecs and Clouds. But now all tropical countries can grow this tree. Cocoa for beans as raw materials used in the food industry is mainly because of its special taste. Some products have high economic value such as Chocolate, cocoa powder.
Cocoa is traded on the ICE US exchange.

Characteristics

The most widely grown cocoa in the world are Crillo, Forastero and Trinitario species (a cross between the two species above). Cocoa is grown mostly in the tropics due to its suitable characteristics with an average temperature of 25-28 degrees, high relative humidity and rainfall over 1500mm. Cocoa trees are not picky about soil and do not have large water requirements, can be grown in close proximity with other plants to increase land use efficiency.

Figure 1. Cocoa tree and fruit

Cocoa beans are used as raw materials to make chocolate and cocoa powder, used as a beverage. Cocoa has many health benefits such as high nutritional value, stabilizing blood sugar, anti-oxidant, good for the heart, reducing stress, improving digestion, etc. Cocoa also has a high content of soluble fiber. High helps to create a feeling of fullness, reducing appetite.
To make 1 kg of Chocolate, 300-600 cocoa beans are needed depending on the desired amount of cocoa in the product.

Production and trade

In 2017, the world produced about 5.2 million tons of cocoa beans, led by Ivory Coast accounting for about 38%. Other countries are Ghana, Indonesia. About 70% of the world's cocoa comes from West Africa.
In 2017, the trade value of cocoa import and export reached about 9.35 billion USD. Ivory Coast is also the world's largest cocoa exporter, accounting for about 40% of the whole ($3.79 billion).
Followed by other African countries such as Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon

Figure 2. Group of Cocoa Exporting Countries

The main group of cocoa importing countries is the EU. In which, the Netherlands imported about 2.29 billion USD, accounting for about 25%. The United States also imported about 1.17 billion USD.

Figure 3. Group of cocoa importing countries

Factors affecting the cocoa market

* Weather Events: Inclement weather around the world, especially in local cultivation regions  can affect supply.
* Report on agriculture, domestic consumption, exports of exporting countries
* Consumption demand in the world
* Related trade and political events bilateral, multilateral