Novel Commodities to Shift Cocoa, Coffee Trades to Africa

Novel Commodities SA, a company trading agricultural products, will shift its cocoa and coffee desks to producing countries in Africa at the end of the month, according to Florian Cergneux, chief financial officer.

Novel, based in Geneva, will close its cocoa and coffee trading in the city and sales to customers will be made via the company’s subsidiaries in Ivory Coast and Cameroon, Cergneux said by phone today. Five traders were employed on the Geneva cocoa and coffee desks and the two remaining will leave at the end of the month, he said.

“Previously, our local subsidiaries sold to Novel Geneva,” he said. “This change will lighten costs for the company, but we will continue to trade cocoa and coffee through our subsidiaries, which are also involved in the development of projects for local production in Africa.”

Novel, founded in 1999, began trading robusta coffee and cocoa in 2007, according to the company’s website. It also trades sugar and rice.

To contact the reporter on this story: Isis Almeida in London at ialmeida3@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Claudia Carpenter at ccarpenter2@bloomberg.net