Cocoa futures are standardized exchange-traded contracts for the delivery of cocoa beans, used by producers and buyers to hedge against price volatility and by speculators to profit from price movements.
Description: Cocoa is a commodity primarily produced in West Africa (Ivory Coast, Ghana) and used in chocolate manufacturing. Cocoa futures trade on exchanges like ICE Futures US and ICE Futures Europe. The contract size is 10 metric tons. Prices are influenced by weather, crop diseases, political stability, and global demand for chocolate. Cocoa has a long history as a trade good, dating back to Mesoamerican civilizations. Today, it is a key agricultural commodity with significant economic impact on producing countries.
Established / Launched: 1925
Founder / Issuer: New York Cocoa Exchange (now part of ICE)