Key insights
- Protests in Ivory Coast over unpaid cocoa sales highlight potential supply chain disruptions. While seemingly localized, sustained issues could impact global cocoa prices, indirectly contributing to inflationary pressures on consumer goods in the US. The situation warrants monitoring for broader implications on commodity markets.
Investing.com - Ivory Coast’s Coffee and Cocoa Council will send officials to the centre-eastern part of the country to calm tensions among farmers who protested last week over unsold cocoa stocks they say are rotting, despite a council pledge to buy the beans, a source close to the council told Reuters on Monday.
CCC managers will travel to the centre-eastern town of M’Batto, where police tear-gassed dozens of farmers last week as they blocked roads while demanding payment for their cocoa. The CCC and the agriculture ministry were not immediately available for comment.
Unsold cocoa stocks built up in Ivory Coast, the world’s top producer, from November to December after global prices fell sharply below local prices, which are set twice a year by the CCC. The government launched a programme to collect the unsold beans, but many farmers and cooperatives say they still have not been paid for main-crop cocoa harvested between October and March.
Farmers have not been paid for beans sold during the main crop, fuelling protests and discouragement that could weigh on the next harvest, farmers and cooperatives told Reuters on Monday. Payment delays risk discouraging farmers, potentially impacting next season’s harvest.
Some farmers have been forced to sell at lower prices as unsold stocks deteriorate. Farmers protested unpaid cocoa sales, with some facing financial hardship and health issues.
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