Chocolate eaters drive record cocoa-output deficit

Brace yourselves chocolate lovers: Global cocoa suppliers are headed for the longest production shortfall in more than five decades.

According to a report from Bloomberg, cocoa use will top output by about 70,000 metric tons in the 12 months started Oct. 1, and deficits will persist through 2018, a six-year stretch that would be the longest since the data began in 1960.

Chinese sales have more than doubled during the past year, outpacing gains in Western Europe, the biggest consumer. Tighter supplies will mean higher costs for food makers.

Cocoa climbed 24 percent this year to $2,775 a ton on ICE Futures, the second-biggest gain among the 24 commodities tracked by the Standard & Poor’s GSCI gauge, which slid 3.4 percent.

Read more from Bloomberg.