Released on: January 25, 2008, 8:12 am

Press Release Author: Alford & Sons Investments

Industry: Financial

Press Release Summary: A statement from US Investment broker Alford & Sons
Investments (ASI), which has yet to be made public, apparently shines a very
positive light on the prospects for Cocoa in 2008, citing competition for land as a
key factor which will curb supply.

Press Release Body: A source close to Alford & Sons released some details of the
pending statement, stating first that there is a fundamental belief that
agricultural commodity prices are set to continue their gains for at least another 3
years as global demand for food and biofuels (in particular ethanol, which can be
processed from sugar), continues to grow.
The ASI statement reportedly concludes that increasing demand for agricultural
commodities will logically lead to a climate in which each commodity will have to
compete with the others for land, and given the growing importance placed on crops
such as sugar which can be used to produce biofuels. It is likely that supply of
cocoa will continue to be tempered.
The possible resumption of a strike by cocoa workers in Ivory Coast, which accounts
for about 40 percent of the world\'s cocoa output, is another factor identified in
the Alford & Sons report as having a positive impact on prices in the short-term
Ivory Coast\'s exports in the 2006-2007 season declined 12 percent to 1.2 million
metric tons, the state-controlled Coffee and Cocoa Bourse said in a report on its
Web site recently.


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