Ivory Coast Seeks to Ease Cocoa Backlogs as Price Slump Deepens
- Cocoa farmers threaten to go on strike over payments
- Ivorian cocoa shippers said unable to honor 80% of contracts
Cocoa seeds sit on mats to dry on a roadside in Agboville, Ivory Coast, on Sept. 1, 2015.
Photographer: Jose Cendon/BloombergIvory Coast’s cocoa regulator said it was taking steps to alleviate shipping backlogs and the underpayment of farmers after producers threatened to strike in the world’s biggest producer. Prices fell to the lowest in more than three years.
Authorities are prioritizing the boarding of cocoa at the West African nation’s biggest ports to clear a delay in shipments, the regulator known as Le Conseil du Cafe-Cacao, or CCC, said in a statement published in L’Inter newspaper on Monday. The regulator is also speeding up support payments made to exporters to encourage cocoa purchases while cracking down on buyers who don’t respect the guaranteed farmgate price of 1,100 CFA francs ($1.77) per kilogram, it said.