Saturday September 29, 2012

Ivory Coast Cocoa Merchants Reach Agreement

Abidjan, Ivory Coast — The Coffee and Cocoa Council (CCC) raised the allowances for cocoa merchants in Ivory Coast from 70 to 80 CFA francs ($0.16) per kg. This resulted in the merchants repealing their threat to boycott the organization by smuggling the product or refusing to transport it, according to Joseph Attoungbre, president of GTC, an organization that represents more than half of the country’s registered merchants.

While this compensation is likely accurate for regions with easy access to ports, Attoungbre says it will not cover the cost of transporting from farther inland.

“We'll see how that works, but we aren't going to take any risks if it turns out that our costs are higher than the allowance,” Attoungbre says, referring to the illegal taxes that the merchants must pay to soldiers, police and customs agents while transporting the product. Merchants had requested an allowance of 94.2 CFA francs per kg.

Farmers will begin harvesting the 2012/2013 crop on October 2. The crops have been forward sold in order to guarantee prices for farmers. So far, Ivory Coast has sold around 910,000 metric tons, or nearly 70 percent, of its projected harvest, according to an official at the finance ministry.