Even Willy Wonka might struggle to use this much chocolate. Yesterday, somebody bought 241,000 tons of cocoa beans:
The purchase was enough to move the entire global cocoa market, sending the price to the highest level since 1977, and triggering rumours and intrigue in the City. It is unclear which person, or group of traders, was behind the deal, but it was the largest single cocoa trade for 14 years. The trade took place on the London International Financial Futures and Options Exchange (Liffe), a market which trades contracts in commodities such as corn, wheat, sugar, coffee and cocoa. Most of these contracts are “options” or “futures” giving a trader the right to buy these commodities at a certain price at a certain time in the future. What made yesterday’s trade so unusual was that the mystery buyer or buyers took physical delivery of the commodity. – from Telegraph