Cocoa prices soar

The March 2025 cocoa contract on the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE-US) jumped 13.66% yesterday, recovering all the losses from the previous weekend.

According to the Vietnam Commodity Exchange (MXV), buying power dominated the world raw material market in the first trading session of the week on December 30, pushing the MXV-Index up 1.08% to 2,213 points. Notably, after falling to over 10,000 USD/ton in the previous session, yesterday cocoa prices skyrocketed nearly 14% and are heading back to their historic peak. In a synchronous development, the energy market flourished when all 5 commodities increased in price, including crude oil with the highest closing price in two weeks.

Thị trường hàng hóa hôm nay 31/12: Ca cao bật tăng mạnh

MXV-Index

Cocoa bounces back after a week of decline

The industrial raw material market witnessed mixed developments in the first trading session of the week, in which cocoa prices recorded an impressive increase after a week of sharp decline.

Specifically, the price of cocoa futures for March 2025 on the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE-US) jumped 13.66% yesterday, recovering all the losses from the previous weekend. The increase mainly came from concerns about the possibility of a supply shortage in the first months of 2025.

Industrial raw material price list

Cocoa farmers in Ivory Coast are concerned about supplies in the first months of 2025 due to the impact of strong dry monsoons in the main producing areas. Strong Harmattan winds combined with low rainfall are having a significant impact on cocoa production. The areas most affected include the Daloa Central West, Yamoussoukro Central and Bongouanou Central, which have seen little or no rain.

In addition, Ivory Coast cocoa exporters estimated that cocoa arrivals in the country from October 1 to December 29 reached 1.05 million tonnes, up 27.4% year-on-year. However, this increase is mainly the result of a sharp decline in cocoa production and exports in the previous crop year 2023-24. In fact, compared to previous normal seasons, cocoa arrivals in the current season remain low. Moreover, this week's increase is down 2.7 percentage points from the increase as of December 22.

In another notable development in the industrial raw material market, the prices of two coffee commodities continued to struggle with supporting and pressuring factors intertwined. In yesterday's trading session, the price of Arabica coffee decreased by 0.51% and Robusta decreased by 0.65% compared to the reference.

In the domestic market, coffee prices in the Central Highlands and the Southeast this morning (December 31) were recorded at 120,000 - 120,500 VND/kg, a slight decrease compared to yesterday. However, compared to the same period last year, coffee prices have doubled.

Cold weather in the US pushes oil prices to two-week high

According to MXV, at the end of yesterday's trading session, the energy market was upbeat with all five commodities increasing in price. In particular, after a volatile trading session, oil prices closed at their highest level in two weeks.

WTI crude oil prices rose 0.55% to nearly $71/barrel, while Brent crude oil prices rose 0.3% to $74.4/barrel. Notably, natural gas prices are hovering at their highest level in the past year.

Energy price list

The National Weather Service is forecasting a sharp change from mild to colder than normal across the East and Midwest over the next 8-14 days. LSEG also estimates that the number of heating days in the US, a measure of energy demand for heating, will increase to 499 over the next two weeks, up from 399 previously. The colder weather is expected to boost heating demand and have a strong bullish impact on gas prices, supporting crude oil prices.

Oil prices continued to be supported by US inventory data released late last week. Specifically, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported that the country's commercial crude oil inventories in the week ending December 20 reached nearly 416.8 million barrels, down sharply by 4.24 million barrels compared to the previous week. The decrease reported by the EIA exceeded analysts' expectations of a 1.9 million barrel decrease as well as the 3.2 million barrel decrease reported by the American Petroleum Institute. This shows that demand for crude oil in the US remains high, contributing to supporting oil prices.

Prices of some other goods