Speculators' new craze for chocolate leaves a bitter taste

European cocoa traders threaten to quit the London market over 'manipulation'

First they ruined the property market, and then they fouled up the banks and building societies, before wrecking the high street. Now hedge funds and other financial speculators are threatening the good order of the chocolate market. Cocoa prices have reached their highest levels for 33 years, increasing 150 per cent in the last 18 months, and financial speculators are being accused of inflating prices to make a financial profit. Cocoa crop failure in the Ivory Coast, the world's top grower, is partly the cause, but some experts are blaming the London commodity market where cocoa is traded. Speculation is now so rife that a group of European cocoa trading companies have taken the rare step of making public a complaint about the extent of the speculation on the London cocoa market and demanding tighter regulations... Independent