Armajaro’s Ward Sees Dry Weather Threatening Ghana’s Cocoa Crop
- Cocoa market can’t afford a second year of shortages: Ward
- Fund sees this season’s shortfall at more than 300,000 tons
This article is for subscribers only.
Patchy rainfall in West Africa is threatening cocoa production in Ghana as conditions remain too dry in the world’s second-largest producer, according to the $500 million hedge fund Armajaro Asset Management LLP.
Rains that usually benefit crops before the start of the harvest in October haven’t covered top growers Ivory Coast and Ghana uniformly, said Anthony Ward, co-founder of the London-based firm and portfolio manager of the CC+ fund, which trades mainly cocoa and coffee. Western and northwestern Ivory Coast got good rainfall while the eastern part of the nation and the west of Ghana had very poor rain, he said.