Ivory Coast: chocolate prices to rise if Ivory Coast stalemate remains

Hundreds of thousands of tonnes of raw cocoa are trapped in Ivory Coast and pressures on supplies could affect prices of Easter eggs if the country's political crisis is not resolved.

International cocoa prices hit a one-year high on Thursday and have risen 14 per cent since international export embargoes were placed on the world's largest exporter of the raw material that makes chocolate.

More than 40 per cent of the world's cocoa comes from the West African country, where the sitting president, Laurent Gbagbo, has refused to step down after losing elections in November.

In a bid to cut off his access to foreign exchange, the EU and the US agreed to calls from Alassane Ouattara, recognised as the true winner of the polls, for an international ban on buying cocoa from Ivory Coast.

So far, the ploy has failed to shift the 66-year-old incumbent, and now traders and confectioners are warning that price rises could be passed on to consumers.

"If no cocoa is exported from Ivory Coast, it will only be a question of time before consuming countries run out of stocks," said Isabelle Adam, secretary general of the European Cocoa Association.

(Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/cotedivoire/8333719/Ivory-Coast-chocolate-prices-to-rise-if-Ivory-Coast-stalemate-remains.html)