ABIDJAN (Reuters) – Ivory Coast’s Coffee and Cocoa Council (CCC) regulator seized 33 trucks carrying around 1,100 tonnes of smuggled cocoa beans across the border with Guinea, according to two sources with the regulator.
Cocoa smuggling has increased in the region after poor harvests in Ghana and Ivory Coast, the world’s second largest and largest producers. The details of the seizure were confirmed by a military source, two buyers and three exporters. None could be named because they were not authorised to speak publicly.
The drop in production has pushed markets into a four-year supply deficit, driving up global cocoa and chocolate prices.
Ivory Coast has raised the fixed farmgate price paid to cocoa farmers by 20% to 1,800 CFA francs ($3.09) per kg for the main crop of the new season, the West African country’s agriculture minister said on Monday.
Agriculture Minister Kobenan Kouassi Adjoumani said the 2023/24 season was marked by a 25% drop in cocoa production in West Africa, including Ivory Coast.
A similar price increase has been implemented in Ghana because the two largest cocoa producers coordinate farmgate prices and supplies to help sustain the sector and boost farmer incomes.
In early September, Ghana raised its farmgate price by nearly 45% to 48,000 cedis ($3,043.75) per metric ton.
The world’s top cocoa grower began its 2024/25 cocoa season on Oct. 1. Cocoa arrivals at ports were at 13,000 tons by Oct. 6, a 74% decline from the previous year.
Ivory Coast’s Coffee and Cocoa Council (CCC) regulator said last month it had curbed the hoarding of beans in September by threatening sanctions against buyers and cooperatives.
(Reporting by Ange Aboa; Writing by Jessica Donati; editing by Barbara Lewis)
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