Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire have halted the sale of cocoa beans on the open market under the 2020/2021 crop season.
The decision was taken in Accra at a meeting for cocoa value chain representatives from both countries including traders and processors.
The two countries supply more than 65 percent of cocoa beans on the world market.
They are hoping that the move to suspend sale of cocoa beans will give their farmers better prices for the sale of their cocoa beans.
Analysts predictions
This is the first time the top cocoa producers have taken a gesture of this sort.
Analysts are predicting that the suspension of the sale of cocoa beans will up the price of the commodity by the adoption of a floor price.
This will ensure that none of them sells their produce in the international market below the agreed minimum price.
Cocoa prices plummeting
In April the International Monetary Fund asked the government of Ghana to reduce cocoa prices to reflect the drop in cocoa prices on the world market.
The price of cocoa dropped for the greater part of the year 2017, ending the year around $1,917 per tonne.
It peaked to $2,659 per tonne in 2018 and it is currently hovering around $2,394 per tonne.
The government however decided to maintain the cocoa prices despite accumulated losses of $185 million (1 Billion Cedis)
Source: Africafeeds.com
