Ivory Coast Shifts Cocoa Strategy Amid Market Slump

Ivory Coast has decided to start its cocoa mid-crop season early, reducing prices paid to farmers. This move aims to boost sales and manage excess cocoa stock due to a global price drop, leaving unsold cocoa bags at ports.

Ivory Coast is taking unprecedented steps to address a stockpile crisis in its cocoa industry, by advancing the start of its mid-crop season. For the first time, the country intends to sharply lower the price set for cocoa farmers to enhance sales.

This strategic move comes as a response to a slump in global cocoa prices that have rendered Ivorian cocoa too costly, leading to an accumulation of unsold cocoa bags both inland and at the nation's ports.

Under the new plan, cocoa produced next month will qualify as mid-crop, priced between 800 and 1,000 CFA francs per kilogram, significantly lower than the main crop's 2,800 CFA francs.

(With inputs from agencies.)