Cocoa Slump Testing Top Producer Is Deja Vu for 80s Traders
- Slide in futures may force Ivory Coast to cut farmer payments
- Country reduced prices for growers by half after drop in ’80s
Workers harvest cocoa fruit from trees on a cocoa plantation in Agboville, Ivory Coast, on Sept. 1, 2015.
Photographer: Jose Cendon/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Slumping cocoa prices are testing to the limit top producer Ivory Coast’s efforts to ensure stability for farmers, heightening risks for the domestic economy and world markets.
Authorities have warned they’ll have to cut payments to growers. That follows a wave of defaults by local exporters who’d bet on higher prices, costing the government more than $300 million and pushing cocoa futures even lower.