The inter-governmental body had previously forecast there would be a global deficit of 80,000 tonnes in 2019/20 with the change driven by lower than previously anticipated grindings due mainly to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The impact of the coronavirus disease continues to be experienced across chocolate confectionery processing and sales facilities and this has contributed to a year of declining grindings," the ICCO said in a quarterly report.

The ICCO cut its forecast for world grindings in the 2019/20 season to 4.635 million tonnes, down from its previous projection of 4.783 million and now 3.1% below the prior season's 4.784 million.

The impact was partially offset by a cut to the ICCO's global production forecast for 2019/20 to 4.724 million tonnes, down from 4.750 million seen previously and now 1.2% below the prior season's 4.780 million.

"Efforts to keep supplies flowing and to curb the COVID-19 pandemic from spreading have been a priority for producing countries. Cocoa production has generally shown resilience but concerns still remain as COVID-19 prevails," the ICCO said.

"This is because farmers may have less flexibility as they operate on a particular planting and harvesting schedule. Social distancing and quarantine measures are likely to disrupt the operations of cocoa farmers."

(Reporting by Nigel Hunt; editing by David Evans)