The hand of Alain Kablan Porquet in dry cocoa beans, in Gagnoa, Ivory Coast, November 19 2023. Cocoa prices have surged to all-time highs this week as bad weather conditions hammer crop yields in West Africa, home to three quarters of the world's production. Cocoa futures prices have surged more than $1,000 or nearly 40% since the start of the year to hit an intraday all-time high of $5,874 per metric ton Thursday. The El Nino weather phenomenon is causing drier temperatures in West Africa, hurting crop yields in Ghana and Ivory Coast, the two largest producers of the bean. "The changing weather patterns means that the potential yields of cocoa are now permanently impaired," Hamza Hussain, a commodities analyst at TD Asset Management, told CNBC Thursday.

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Persons: Alain Kablan, Hamza Hussain Organizations: El, Asset Management, CNBC Locations: Gagnoa, Ivory Coast, West Africa, Ghana