%{{tag.tag}} {{articledata.title}} {{moment(articledata.cdate)}} @{{articledata.company.replace(" ","")}} comment The global shortage of %Cocoa beans, the active ingredient in chocolate, is expected to ease in coming months as farmers record their first surplus of the crop in three years. For the first time since 2022, the world’s cocoa supply will surpass demand, according to the International Cocoa Organization. For the current harvest, the available supply of cocoa beans is expected to exceed global demand by 142,000 tons. The International Cocoa Organization estimates production to rise 8% during the current harvest season to 4.84 million tons. Grindings, which is a proxy for consumption, are seen declining 5%. The surplus is welcome news after multiple years of drought, disease and flooding largely wiped out cocoa bean crops in Africa, leading to dwindling supplies and leading prices to skyrocket. Cocoa prices surged to a record of more than $12,000 U.S. a ton in New York trading last December, driven by renewed supply fears in Ivory Coast and Ghana, where the majority of the world’s cocoa crop is grown. However, prices have fallen about 15% over the past month on expectations that current supply shortages will ease and as chocolate makers such as %Hershey (NYSE: $HSY ) and %Mondelez (NASDAQ: $MDLZ ) raise prices. The world’s cocoa bean supply fell short of demand in 2024 by 441,000 tons, said the International Cocoa Organization.