Ivory Coast Lost 125,000 Tons of Cocoa to Smuggling
- Biggest producer loses beans through western, eastern borders
- Figure is the equivalent of 9 percent of current harvest
Photographer: Jane Hahn/Bloomberg
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Ivory Coast lost an estimated 125,000 metric tons of cocoa this season through the smuggling of beans to neighboring countries where farmers and traders are paid better prices, according to two people familiar with the matter.
The industry regulator of the world’s biggest cocoa producer estimates that the country lost as much as 100,000 tons through its eastern border with Ghana and another 25,000 tons through the western boundary with Liberia and Guinea, said one of the people, who asked not to be identified because the information isn’t public. One of the biggest cocoa buyers in the country made a similar forecast, said a second person.