Cocoa trader moves market single-handedly
Anthony Ward, the UK financier, this week moved the cocoa market single-handedly with a deal worth in excess of £650 million. He now owns enough cocoa to produce 5.3 billion quarter pound chocolate bars and could single-handedly force chocolate bar manufacturers around the world to increase their prices. So who is Anthony Ward and why has he taken such a gamble?
Rumoured to be worth in the region of £36 million, Anthony Ward has taken a number of significant gambles on the cocoa in the past and bagged some very large profits. The price of this popular commodity increased by 0.7% to £2732 per metric ton after the transaction, which is the highest cocoa price seen since 1977. Anthony Ward carried out a similar transaction back in 2002 and bagged a profit of £40 million taking advantage of supply issues in Africa.
Over the last few months we have seen how the commodity, and other investment markets, can be heavily influenced by a small number of large transactions, often having a significant impact upon the wider economy. Even though investors are now fully aware of Anthony Ward's position in the market he still hopes to bag a large profit in due course if the price continues to move north.
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