Ghana has not failed to secure buyer for 2020/21 beans – COCOBOD denies report

Management of Ghana Cocoa Board and its subsidiary the Cocoa Marketing Company (CMC) Limited say the country has not failed to secure a buyer for its 2020/21 cocoa beans as has been widely publicised in the international media.

Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire last week lifted the suspension of the sale of 2020/21 cocoa beans after officially announcing the new trading mechanism for the sale of cocoa.

In line with trading practice, CMC on June 19, 2019, decided to do a market sounding after the introduction of a Living Income Differential (LID) and weigh the market reaction and its dynamics.

“We will like to correct the misrepresentation of the LID to mean a surcharge.  The LID is part of the price component of the trading mechanism and not a surcharge as was reported by Bloomberg. The Management of Ghana Cocoa Board and its subsidiary Cocoa Marketing Company (CMC) Limited have observed with worry the inaccurate interpretation and publication by Bloomberg and other media house on the sale of Ghana’s beans.

“We, therefore, entreat all to disregard the news about Ghana’s beans not finding a buyer which seems to fall in line with a certain negative narrative of a challenge in the implementation of the well-understood trading mechanism,” a release issued by COCOBOD stated.

The statement also assured Ghanaian farmers and relevant stakeholders that the new mechanism has been understood to be the official trading system, and we shall sell at a price for the benefit of local farmers and the sustainability of the cocoa industry.

Bloomberg reported that Ghana offered to sell beans for the first time since introducing a surcharge but found no buyers.

“Ghana’s Cocoa Marketing Company, responsible for selling the nation’s cocoa, offered beans for 2020-21 to traders on Wednesday, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the information is private,” the report said.

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