Ivory Coast's cocoa marketing board has granted an export licence to the company that bought the assets of SAF-Cacao, a top exporter until it was liquidated in July, a document reviewed by Reuters shows. This represents a milestone for the world's biggest cocoa producer, which has toughened conditions for export licences to avoid a repeat of defaults linked to a disastrous 2016/17 season, when world market prices fell 40 percent.
Ivorian firm Societe Agricole du Cafe-Cacao (SACC) acquired SAF-Cacao's assets last week in a deal worth 165 billion CFA francs ($289 million), a source at the marketing board and two banking sources said. This paved the way for CCC to grant SACC an export licence for the 2018/19 season, a decision which was taken on Monday, the document revealed.