Ivory Coast cocoa exporters get 50% target share of foreign contracts, says regulator

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05/11/2021 15:42

By Ange Aboa
    Nov 5 (Reuters) - Ivory Coast's cocoa board has allocated
161,000 tonnes of international contracts to local exporters
this season, half as much as envisaged under a government decree
to support local players, the regulator's chief said on Friday.
    In May, the government ruled that 20% of cocoa purchases by
multinational companies should be fulfilled by local firms to
improve competition in the world's largest cocoa-exporting
economy.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N2ND1VV
    This would have amounted to 320,000 tonnes for the 2021/22
season, but the CCC realised many firms lacked the financial or
logistical capacity to handle that volume, sources said in
October.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N2R35IP
    CCC director Yves Brahima Kone confirmed the below-target
allocation of 161,000 tonnes. 
    "The government wants more nationals integrated into the
sales system, but we also need to have serious exporters who
want to work," he said.
    Over 70% of the local exporters handling the international
contracts were picked by the multinationals themselves and the
rest were selected by the CCC, he said.
    The policy change is meant to change the status quo where
major international players used their greater financial muscle
to buy and export all available cocoa as local firms lacked
access to financing and foreign chocolate makers.
    The international cocoa companies with Ivorian export
contracts include Cargill  ABNO.UL , SucDen, Oam  OLAM.SI ,
Barry Callebaut  BARN.S , Touton and Ecom.  EPGC.PK 
    The cocoa season begins with the main harvest from October
to March, which accounts for 70% of production. 
    

 (Editing by Alessandra Prentice, editing by Louise Heavens)
 ((ange.aboa@thomsonreuters.com; +(225) 05 56 78 51 22;))