Ivory Coast sells 1 million tons of main cocoa crop

Ivory Coast, the world’s biggest cocoa producer, has sold 1 million metric tons of cocoa beans from its 2017-18 main crop, according to a person familiar with the matter.

As reported by Bloomberg, cocoa regulator Le Conseil du Cafe-Cacao is targeting forward sales of 1.3 million tons before the new season starts on Oct. 1, according to the person, who asked not to be identified because the information isn’t public. The current total compares with 950,000 tons through May 27 that Bloomberg reported at the time. The main crop is the larger of the country’s two annual harvests.

CCC spokeswoman Mariam Coulibaly Dagnogo wasn’t available to comment and the regulator’s press office declined to comment in her absence.

The CCC forecasts production for the current season through the end of September at 1.91 million tons, with deliveries in the final three months seen slowing due to heavy rains and flooding, the person said. Purchases this season reached 1.82 million tons through June 30, according to government data obtained by Bloomberg.

The output forecast is well above the total from last year, when dry winds from the Sahara damaged the crop.

Deliveries diverted from Ivory Coast to neighboring Ghana through smuggling are currently estimated at about 40,000 tons in the season so far and may rise to 70,000 tons, the person said.

Cocoa for delivery in September fell 0.7 percent to 1,528 pounds ($1,974) a metric ton by Tuesday’s close in London, extending the declines this year to 12 percent.

Courtesy Bloomberg