Cocoa butter prices have been riding high because of growing demand for chocolate, particularly in Asia, but it is a different story for cocoa powder. Cocoa grinders have rushed to build extra capacity to keep up with butter demand and this has left them with excess powder, which has proven hard to shift.
Prices of cocoa powder - which is used mainly in drinks, ice cream and biscuits - are therefore tumbling and in recent weeks processors have had to reduce production.
Recent falls in coconut and palm kernel oil prices have accelerated because of strong supplies from Indonesia and Malaysia. The ingredients can be used as substitutes in personal care and household products.
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