A record-breaking surge in cocoa prices on the back of poor harvests in West Africa has prompted hedge funds and other speculative investors to pile into the market, according to a report by Bloomberg citing positioning data from CFTC.
The CFTC’s figures reveal that traders have built a record $8.7bn position across London and New York cocoa futures contracts, betting that prices will continue to rise.
So far in 2024, trend-following hedge funds have earned healthy profits from the wager, which helped to push the London price to a record close of £4,757 per ton last Friday, more than double the level seen a year ago. Prices in New York have also surged to a record high of $5,888.00 per ton.
