Asian cocoa processors used 233,767 tonnes of beans in July–September, up 29.22% from a year earlier and 4.06% from the previous quarter, according to the Cocoa Association of Asia. The result adds a substantial regional gain to the European rebound reported earlier on Thursday.
The European Cocoa Association put third-quarter bean usage at 348,215 tonnes, up 3.2% year on year after declines in the first two quarters. Europe’s nine-month total was still 3.1% below the comparable 2025 period. Asia’s first three quarters, calculated from the CAA’s quarterly figures, totalled 681,916 tonnes, about 19% above the same period last year.
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The two releases make a recovery in processing harder to dismiss as a purely European development. Malaysia had already reported a 47% rise to 89,414 tonnes for the quarter; that volume forms part of the Asian picture and should not be added to the CAA total. Germany’s reported 3.6% increase likewise sits within the European result.
Processing also rose at origin. Figures from Côte d’Ivoire’s exporters’ association GEPEX, reported by Reuters, put September grindings at 49,517 tonnes, up 46.6% year on year, and the completed 2025/26 season at 650,689 tonnes, up 10.6%. That series covers six major processors rather than every plant in the country.