Com-Watch - Issue 37 - June 2014

Ghana Cocoa Main Crop Purchases Reach 750,122T By May 1
Cocoa purchases declared to Cocobod Ghana’s industry regulator reached 750,122 tonnes by May 1, since the start of the main
crop on Oct. 18, up 17.45 % on the previous year. The purchases, which covered 28 weeks of the 33-week main crop season,
were up from 638,654 tonnes declared in the same period last year. Ghana is hoping to buy around 850,000 tonnes of cocoa
during its October-May main crop harvest. Total purchases for the 28th week rose to 17,170 tonnes from an average of 10,000
tonnes in the past 3-weeks. Buyers say the rise in the latest output figure indicated that purchases were on target as projected.
[Reuters 15/05/14]
Currency Fall Deepens Ghana’s Cocoa Smuggling Troubles
Cedi has slipped
23% against dollar
this year
Farmers seeking to
cash in on I. Coast's
higher price
Trafficking likely to
continue
Ghana’s falling currency has fuelled smuggling of as much as 100,000 tonnes of cocoa into neighbouring Ivory Coast since
October, reversing a trend. Cocoa smuggling between the world’s 2-biggest cocoa producers is common, but over the past
decade it has mainly involved Ivorian beans being taken illegally to Ghana. That has changed this season. Ghana’s cedi currency,
which the government has struggled to prop up, has fallen nearly 23% against the dollar so far this year, while Ivory Coast’s europegged
CFA franc has remained stable, making the country’s official farmer price around 24% higher than Ghana’s.
Exporters said the Ivorian price is now seen as more attractive by Ghanaian farmers, who can make bigger profits selling their
output to smugglers. Estimates of smuggled volumes rang from 40,000 to 80,000 tonnes of beans, while exporters in Ivory Coast
put the figure at between 50,000 and 60,000 tonnes. Bean arrivals at Ivorian ports reached around 1.3 million tonnes by May 11,
according to exporters’ estimates, up more than 10% from the same time last season.
Ivory Coast’s October-to-March main crop opened on Oct. 2 with its sector regulator, the CCC, fixing a minimum guaranteed
farmer price of 750 CFA F/kg [US$1.59]. Ghana’s price of 3,392 cedis per tonne was roughly on par with Ivory Coast’s at the
time. Despite the beans lost to smuggling, Ghanaian cocoa output still remains more than 15% ahead of last year’s levels with
purchases reaching 704,266 tonnes by April 8 since the start of the main crop. But Ivory Coast decided to maintain its farmer
price at the main crop level of 750 CFA F/kg for April-to-September mid-crop cocoa, which is usually sold at a discount. This in
turn could further fuel illegal trafficking as Ghana heads towards its light crop in July unless they raise the price.
[Reuters 12/05/14]
Processing Companies Owe COCOBOD US$250 Million
Five out of the 10 indigenous cocoa processing companies in the country owe the Ghana Cocoa Board [COCOBOD] US$250
million in unpaid bills under the Old Beans Supply Agreement. This has compelled COCOBOD to take drastic measures to halt
the continued supply of cocoa beans to the companies to save the board from going bankrupt. The move is likely to affect more
than 6,000 workers of the companies and their outsource service providers. The amount owed COCOBOD ranges from US$3
million to more than $50 million per company since 2010.
Cocoa Farmers To Receive Payments From E-Zwich
Cocoa farmers would from the beginning of this year’s light crop season receive payments for cocoa sold to the licensed buying
companies [LBCs] only from e-zwich and by cheque. The use of cash, the authorities say, would no longer be permitted. apart
from the flexibility the e-zwich offered in terms of money withdrawal from all banks, savings and loans companies, it would
provide accurate records on the number of cocoa bags sold by every farmer. That would make it easier for the determination of
bonuses payable to them.
[Ghanaweb 23/05/14]
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