Cocoa Ship Leaves Ivory Coast’s San Pedro Port After Ban Lifted
A ship loaded with cocoa beans left Ivory Coast’s port of San Pedro yesterday for the first time since an export ban issued by President Alassane Ouattara was lifted, according to the harbor.
San Pedro, in the western part of the world’s top cocoa producer, didn’t export any of the beans or semi-finished products during the month of April due to the halt, it said in an e-mailed statement today.
Ouattara issued the ban in January in an attempt to starve his political rival, Laurent Gbagbo, of funds. It was lifted following the April 11 capture of Gbagbo, who had refused to cede the presidency to Ouattara following a disputed November election.
Shipments of palm oil from San Pedro dropped 40 percent to 6,404 metric tons in April, according to the statement.
To contact the reporter on this story: Pauline Bax in Abidjan via Accra at ebowers1@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Antony Sguazzin at asguazzin@bloomberg.net.
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