Ivory Coast to increase official farmgate cocoa price

Ivory Coast, the world's largest exporter of cocoa is exected to increase the official cocoa farmgate price to 1,500 CFA francs ($2.47) per kg from Tuesday from the current 1,000 CFA.

It comes as President Allassane Ouattara on Saturday validated a proposal for a price of between 1,100 and 1,200 CFA francs per kg before reversing his decision and asking that the price be even higher.

Cocoa prices have more than tripled over the last year as disease and adverse weather pushed the global market to a third successive deficit, but the official farmgate price that growers can charge for their beans in Ivory Coast, a top producer, has yet to reflect this.

Major companies such as Hershey (HSY.N), Nestle (NESN.S), Mondelez (MDLZ.O),and Barry Callebaut (BARN.S), buy cocoa from Ivory Coast.

In 2022, Ivory Coast and Ghana boycotted industry meetings in Brussels over a price dispute. 

Nearly six million people rely on the cocoa industry in the West African nation of Ivory Coast.