Reporting in recent weeks of Côte d’Ivoire’s cocoa regulator, the Coffee and Cocoa Council (CCC), restricting major traders – with Barry Callebaut and Cargill among them – from purchasing beans for export having reached buying limits, has led the CCC to publish a press release reassuring people of the situation.
Reuters reported on 13 February 2023 that Côte d’Ivoire cocoa exporters were close to defaulting on their contracts due to a lack of beans, and urgently needed 150,000 tonnes to honour their commitments. The alarm caused by this news has since led the CCC to release a statement reassuring people that although exports have slowed down, there is no reason to panic.
In the release, the CCC acknowledged there had been a “slowing down” of arrivals of cocoa beans in the ports, they also said that the overall volume received allows different operators to be able to cover their contracts.
On 10 February 2023, the CCC held a routine meeting with groups of exporters including GEPEX, GNI and exporting cooperatives led by UCOOPEXCI. The goal of this meeting was to better understand their difficulties and the reasons for the slowing down of arrivals.
The CCC stressed, however, that reasons cited during this meeting to justify this phenomenon was too early on to be alarmed.
“The Conseil du Café-Cacao would therefore like to reassure and inform all players in the cocoa sector value chain that everything is done to facilitate the supply of beans to exporters and avoid any risk of default,” the CCC wrote in the release. The availability of cocoa beans, it said, is such that operators are continuing to stock up on them despite strict competition.
In addition, to enable exporters to honour their contracts, the CCC has said it will take necessary measures to limit the purchases of exporters to ensure greater balance and stresses that for all operators, commitments made will be respected.
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