The trading world is dominated by metals, oil and other commodities but rarely does an organic commodity excel above these. In 2024, cacao beans which emanate mainly from Ivory Coast and elsewhere did just that thanks to steep pricing. 

According to experts in Chicago, cocoa tailed off 2024 as the top market performer after experiencing 172% yearly gains.

A major reason for this massive market rally other than supply woes in West Africa was low liquidity in markets. 

At certain times the commodity would shoot by $1,000 a tonne between one trading contract and the next in just 24 hours.

With such volatility it was only natural for the price of the beans to reach a record $12,000 a tonne in April 2024. 

By December, the commodity would nearly eclipse the above record by surpassing the $11,000-a-tonne position.

The situation of pricey cocoa could still stay up in 2025 despite improvements in supplies in some countries. 

This persistent costliness currently owes to Harmattan winds, which bring dryness to West Africa from November through February.

Coffee no Cheap Cacao Alternative

Also supporting the top performance of cocoa rather than hindering is coffee, whose annual prices rose by 67% in 2024.

Indeed, a switch to coffee can hardly help for the commodity reached a four-decade price high in late 2024.

Like cocoa, coffee is waging a war with weather, with top Arabica beans supplier, Brazil, experiencing a drought trap.

Non-Organic Commodities

While cocoa and coffee prices were soaring, the perennial metallic and earth core favorites ended the year at a loss.

The most notable loss is that of crude oil, which came despite having staged strong pricing for a part of the year.  Brent Crude, a benchmark which follows international prices, reported end 2024 prices at $74.64 a barrel, a 3% yearly loss.

So was coal, which attracted low demand in economically slowing down China and ended at a loss.

Cacao therefore ranked first in 2024 among world market commodities and could do so again if conditions persist. Below are statistics of some top performing commodities in world markets vis-á-vis cocoa. 

Statistics on Cocoa and Top Performing Commodities 

Cocoa first gained current price strength in 2023 when it ended the year with a 65% gain, according to Nasdaq. Coffee, too, performed fairly well in 2023 by edging up in prices by 15% before the year’s close. Another big performer of 2023 among agricultural commodities was frozen orange juice concentrate after soaring 60% to a record $4.3195 a pound. Crude oil, like in 2024, ended 2023 with a 5.1% loss, per Brent Crude reports. 

Which commodities performed well or poorly in December 2024? 

Performance in the year’s close can change product fortunes. Natural gas was up 13% month-on-month due to cold weather fears while cocoa ended December with a 24% monthly price improvement. Losers for the month included coal with a 5.8% monthly loss and cotton, which traded at $0.684 per pound. 

Did cocoa top commodities before 2024? 

Cocoa was not in the top 10 top performing products in recent years, 2022 being an example. This is because the commodity was then experiencing stagnant growth. In 2022, four agricultural commodities were in the top ten. According to Forbes, they included sugar at no.10 with a 9% yearly price increase. Live cattle claimed the ninth position with 11% yearly price improvement while soybeans finished eighth with a 20% annual price improvement. Cotton topped agricultural commodities at position 3 overall while coffee was the top beverage at position 7 overall.