Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire set to raise cocoa farmgate price in October

Ghana is set to raise its cocoa farmgate price by 5.2% for the 2019/20 season, the first increase in four years, following strong sales of export contracts to chocolate makers and cocoa houses, industry insiders told Reuters.

The farmgate price will rise to 8,000 Ghanaian cedi ($1,523.81) per ton for the season starting this October, from 7,600 cedi ($1410) per ton last season, according to Cocobod, Ghana’s Cocoa Board.

In London, cocoa fell 8 pounds, or 0.4pc, to 1,823 pounds a ton this week, having earlier hit its lowest in three weeks at 1,822 pounds. New York cocoa was $14, or 0.6pc, lower at $2,332 a ton, having hit a two-month low of $2,324 on Monday, Reuters also reported.

Ghana’s Producer Price Review Committee, which sets the farmgate price, will meet next month to decide a price, with the official announcement due early October before the start of the cocoa season.

“The price will be around 8,000 GHS ($1,484) per ton next season. That’ll be 500 GHS ($92) per bag and it’s something that cocoa farmers deserve​,” a Cocobod source said.

If the price rise goes ahead, it will be the first in three seasons for Ghana’s farmers. The country produced 794,000 tons of cocoa this season, down 11.7% from the last season, and is the world’s second-biggest cocoa producer.

There is speculation that Côte d'Ivoire, the world’s biggest cocoa producer, will also raise its farmgate price this season.

Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire agreed in June to impose a floor price for cocoa of $2,600 per ton and a live income differential (LID) of $400 per ton, but met initial opposition from cocoa processors​. They have also been in talks for two years about simultaneously announcing their farmgate prices.