According to the latest news, Pierre Andurand, a world-renowned crude oil trader, suffered a tragic failure in the cocoa market. As of the end of June, his flagship fund lost 57% this year.
On August 1 local time, the price of cocoa futures fell by more than 3%, reaching US$8,227.00/ton, with a cumulative decline of more than 29% this year. Some analysts pointed out that weak global demand is the main reason for the continued decline in cocoa prices. Data from the European Cocoa Association shows that as the largest consumer region, the processing volume of cocoa beans in Europe in the second quarter fell by 7.2% year-on-year, the lowest level since 2020.
Huge loss of 57%
On August 3, according to a latest letter from Bloomberg cited Pierre Anduran to investors, as of the end of June, its flagship fund “Antulan Commodity Fully Entrusted Enhanced Fund” had a loss of up to 57% this year.
In the letter, Anduran admitted that “the recent performance has been very disappointing” and confirmed that it has cut the exposure of cocoa longs to all its funds.
This performance is in sharp contrast to the brilliant performance in 2024. At that time, Anduran made a 50% annual return with a big bet on the rise in cocoa prices. However, as cocoa prices fell from a high of more than $12,000 per ton to around $8,000, coupled with a series of missteps and violent market fluctuations, previous profits were swallowed up.
It is worth mentioning that Anduran’s name has been almost synonymous with the success of crude oil trading in the past decade. However, from March 2024, he has set his sights on a whole new field: Coco.
According to Bloomberg, Anduran judged at the time that the severe weather and crop diseases in West Africa would seriously impact the global cocoa supply chain, triggering an epic market.
His team established a large number of cocoa long positions in March 2024 and reaped a lot at the end of the year – Cocoa’s bets helped its flagship fund achieve a staggering return of up to 50% in 2024.
Great success ignited Anduran’s ambitions. In April 2024, Anduran made a high-profile prediction in an email to Bloomberg: “We believe (cocoa price) may exceed $20,000 later this year.” At that time, the “king of crude oil” seemed to be preparing to copy its legend in the cocoa market.
However, as the market is concerned about the demand outlook, cocoa prices continue to fall. As of August 1, cocoa futures have fallen by 29.23% this year.
This caused Anduran, who was betting on long positions in Cocoa, to suffer heavy losses, with his fund falling about 17% in January and falling nearly 25% in February.
