AIRLINK 62.48 Increased By ▲ 2.05 (3.39%)
BOP 5.36 Increased By ▲ 0.01 (0.19%)
CNERGY 4.58 Decreased By ▼ -0.02 (-0.43%)
DFML 15.50 Increased By ▲ 0.66 (4.45%)
DGKC 66.40 Increased By ▲ 1.60 (2.47%)
FCCL 17.59 Increased By ▲ 0.73 (4.33%)
FFBL 27.70 Increased By ▲ 2.95 (11.92%)
FFL 9.27 Increased By ▲ 0.21 (2.32%)
GGL 10.06 Increased By ▲ 0.10 (1%)
HBL 105.70 Increased By ▲ 1.49 (1.43%)
HUBC 122.30 Increased By ▲ 4.78 (4.07%)
HUMNL 6.60 Increased By ▲ 0.06 (0.92%)
KEL 4.50 Decreased By ▼ -0.05 (-1.1%)
KOSM 4.48 Decreased By ▼ -0.09 (-1.97%)
MLCF 36.20 Increased By ▲ 0.79 (2.23%)
OGDC 122.92 Increased By ▲ 0.53 (0.43%)
PAEL 23.00 Increased By ▲ 1.09 (4.97%)
PIAA 29.34 Increased By ▲ 2.05 (7.51%)
PIBTL 5.80 Decreased By ▼ -0.14 (-2.36%)
PPL 107.50 Increased By ▲ 0.13 (0.12%)
PRL 27.25 Increased By ▲ 0.74 (2.79%)
PTC 18.07 Increased By ▲ 1.97 (12.24%)
SEARL 53.00 Decreased By ▼ -0.63 (-1.17%)
SNGP 63.21 Increased By ▲ 2.01 (3.28%)
SSGC 10.80 Increased By ▲ 0.05 (0.47%)
TELE 9.20 Increased By ▲ 0.71 (8.36%)
TPLP 11.44 Increased By ▲ 0.86 (8.13%)
TRG 70.86 Increased By ▲ 0.95 (1.36%)
UNITY 23.62 Increased By ▲ 0.11 (0.47%)
WTL 1.28 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
BR100 6,944 Increased By 65.8 (0.96%)
BR30 22,827 Increased By 258.6 (1.15%)
KSE100 67,142 Increased By 594.3 (0.89%)
KSE30 22,090 Increased By 175.1 (0.8%)
Markets

Soil moisture helps Ivory Coast cocoa crop but slow demand forces bargain sales

  • Ivory Coast, the world's top cocoa producer, is in the dry season, which runs from mid-November to March.
  • We will still have a lot of cocoa. But it's the sales that's the problem.
Published January 4, 2021

ABIDJAN: Good levels of soil moisture from recent rain helped the development of Ivory Coast's cocoa crop last week, farmers said, though a drop in demand was forcing some to sell beans for less than the guaranteed farmgate price.

Ivory Coast, the world's top cocoa producer, is in the dry season, which runs from mid-November to March. But unexpected rain in recent weeks has meant there were plenty of flowers and cherelles on the trees, which bode well for the April-to-September mid-crop.

"We will still have a lot of cocoa. But it's the sales that's the problem," said Kouassi Kouame, who farms near Soubre.

A drop in global demand for chocolate during the COVID-19 pandemic has hit cocoa sales from Ivory Coast.

Farmers in need of money said they were selling their beans for between 900-950 CFA francs per kilogram, below the guaranteed farmgate price of 1,000 CFA francs.

"We don't know if this is due to the holidays, but there are few buyers," said Gervais N'Guessan who farms in the centre-western region of Daloa.

No rain fell across most of the cocoa belt last week but farmers said the foliage was green and many predicted a bigger mid-crop than last year.

In the western region of Soubre, the only region with rain, 1.5 mm fell, 2.9 mm below the average.

Last week's average daily temperatures ranged from 25.7 to 29.1 degrees Celsius.

Comments

Comments are closed.