ICCO projects cocoa deficits but no threat to supply

LONDON (Reuters) - Cocoa demand is likely to outstrip production in the next few years but stocks should be sufficient to ensure supplies until output rebounds, the International Cocoa Organization (ICCO) said on Friday. "While our projections show that supply deficits are likely to occur during the next several years, stocks of cocoa beans should cushion this development before production growth accelerates," the ICCO said in a statement on Friday. "There is no threat to the supply of cocoa for chocolate manufacturers," it added. Laurent Pipitone, director of the ICCO's Economics and Statistics Division, in June projected the global cocoa market would move into deficit in 2014/15 and with production rising but remaining slightly below demand through 2019/20. The ICCO has estimated there was a global cocoa surplus of 40,000 tonnes in the 2013/14 season (October/September). West Africa grows about two-thirds of the world's cocoa with Ivory Coast and Ghana the most important producers. Cocoa futures on ICE dipped on Friday, under pressure from ample new-crop supplies from West Africa. [SOF/] The international body on Friday noted "numerous press reports this week" which talked of potential deficits possibly reaching a level of one million tonnes by 2020. "The ICCO ... would like to emphasize that its projections in no way bear out this fear, which it finds to be overstated in the extreme," the statement said. "It believes that there is no cause for alarm regarding the availability of chocolate for consumers to enjoy."