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December New York cocoa settled $118, or 2.1%, lower at $5,582 a tonne on Wednesday. The December London contract lost £57, or 1.4%, to settle at £4,174 a tonne. ICE-monitored US inventories rose to 3.55 million bags, their highest level in more than two years.
Fresh scrutiny of processor economics followed reports that Cargill recorded ‘mark-to-market losses on cocoa’ in its fiscal first quarter, which ended on 31 August.
Cargill’s net income fell to $927 million from $1.94 billion a year earlier, according to company accounts reviewed by Bloomberg. The comparison was affected by a tax benefit that lifted the previous year’s result. Cargill, which no longer publishes quarterly earnings publicly, declined to comment, according to Bloomberg.
The cocoa loss occurred after New York futures rose by more than 70% between early June and the end of August. It indicates that rapid price movements created valuation pressure across Cargill’s cocoa positions, but does not by itself prove that the processor was unable to pass raw-material costs to customers. Mark-to-market losses can also reflect timing differences between physical purchases, inventories, hedges and forward sales.
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Separate evidence nevertheless points to price resistance in parts of the chocolate market. Lindt & Sprüngli recently cut its 2026 organic sales-growth forecast to 0–2% from 4–6%, citing weaker-than-expected European orders following cocoa-driven price increases and subdued consumer sentiment.