Ghana’s Cocoa Marketing Board (Cocobod) plans to increase the price paid to cocoa growers by 50% to share in the extra profit generated by increased worldwide prices. A Cocobod spokesman relayed the information.
According to Reuters, cocoa prices have more than tripled the previous year due to poor weather and disease, reducing cocoa farmers’ output and putting the world market into a third consecutive deficit.
Before this news, the official price that cocoa growers in Ghana and Ivory Coast, which provide around 60% of the world’s cocoa, could charge for their produce did not reflect the current global market price spike.
Ghana’s state-guaranteed cocoa price is 20,943 cedis ($1,574.66) per ton or approximately 21 cedis per kilogram.
The president of Ivory Coast said on Tuesday that cocoa prices in the country would be increased to 1,500 CFA francs ($2.47, or roughly 33 cedi) per kg for the April-to-September mid-crop of the 2023/24 season, up from 1,000 CFA francs last season.
Fiifi Boafo. The head of Public Affairs at Cocobod stated that the new prices could be released this week but declined to speak further.
An unidentified cocoa exporter informed Reuters that the Minister of Food and Agriculture would meet with cocoa industry stakeholders on Wednesday afternoon. “This is a mid-term price and it has nothing to do with next year’s price,” the company added.
Another person familiar with Cocobod’s strategy stated that Ghana’s price increase is in response to Ivory Coast’s recent price increase, with fears about smuggling being a significant reason for the decision.
Several licensed cocoa buyers in Ghana applauded the price increase, saying it was a long time, but warned that it would increase their operating costs.
Cocoa production in Ghana has encountered numerous obstacles throughout the years, affecting total output in the West African country.
Cocobod stated that it lost approximately 150,000 tonnes of cocoa to smuggling and illegal gold mining during the 2022/23 season. It forecasts that these losses will increase when global prices rise, providing smugglers with an enhanced incentive.
