Ivory Coast cocoa buyers pay below guaranteed price amid bean glut

Cocoa buyers in top grower Ivory Coast are violating a government guaranteed minimum price for farmers as a build-up of bean stocks in warehouses and ports drives down demand, farmers and co-operative managers told Reuters.
The low prices are also fuelling bean smuggling to neighbouring Ghana, the world's number two producer.

The 2016/17 season in the world's top cocoa grower opened on Oct. 1 with the Coffee and Cocoa Council marketing board fixing the farmgate price of 1,100 CFA francs ($1.78) per kilogram. Farmers said they are now selling for between 800 and 1000 CFA francs/kg.
Cocoa has backed up at warehouses and ports largely because domestic companies have secured export rights at auction for beans they can no longer afford to buy and have therefore stopped purchasing, international exporters told Reuters.
In the centre-western region of Daloa, which accounts for about a quarter of Ivory Coast's national output, farmers said they were receiving between 800 and 900 CFA francs/kg.
"The farmers are discouraged. They have to take care of themselves and feed themselves, so they are obliged to sell," said Marcel Aka, who farms in the outskirts of Daloa.
In the eastern region of Abengourou, farmers said that Ghanaian buyers were buying large quantities of beans for 1,000 CFA francs/kg at the nearby border and smuggling them across, making other buyers reluctant to pay more.
"Three weeks ago our co-operative sent 3 million CFA francs worth of beans (to the port). The members have not yet collected the money because it's not selling in Abidjan," said farmer Lambert Aka.
In the western region of Man, farmers said cocoa was selling for 900 CFA francs/kg, and in the region of Bouafle for between 900 and 1000 CFA francs/kg.
"Prices have dropped here... because they're saying the beans aren't clearing the ports," said cooperative manager Alphonse Konan, who farms near Man.
"Farmers have lots of beans on plantations and in stores. They won't hesitate to sell when they see money in front of them," he added.
© Reuters News