Ghana expects 76% rise in cocoa beans for current crop season

The Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) said the country’s graded and sealed (G&S) cocoa arrivals stood at 350,000 tonnes since the start of this year's harvest on 1 October, up 76% from 199,000 tonnes in the same period the previous season.

G&S is cocoa that has been quality checked and sealed in bags by the regulatory body and is ready to be shipped.

COCOBOD has estimated that production will be higher than the 2021-2022 season, although official figures have not been released at the time of writing.

The cocoa regulator said the producer price to be paid at all buying centres is ¢384 per load of 30 kilogrammes for grade 1 and 2 cocoa beans or ¢800 per bag of 64 kilogrammes. A tonne of 16 bags is however going for ¢12,800 ($1207.10)

Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana are the two largest cocoa-growing countries, accounting for over 60% of global cocoa production.

In its latest report (December 2022), the International Cocoa Organization (ICCO) said that cocoa production during 2021-22 dropped year-on-year in both Côte d’Ivoire (-6%) and Ghana (-34%) as a result of periodically inappropriate weather conditions in the region and the devastating effect of the Cocoa Swollen Shoot Virus Disease (CSSVD) in Ghana.

“The reduction in the outputs of the top two world cocoa producers plunged the global cocoa market into a supply deficit, and as such brought the size of the main crop for the 2022-23 season in the two countries to one’s attention​,” it said.

In Côte d’Ivoire, cumulative arrivals of cocoa beans at ports were estimated at 954,000 tonnes as of 11 December 2022, representing a 10% year-on-year increase compared to 867,000 tonnes reported last year.

The slowdown in the global economy and inflationary impact on raw materials, combined with exorbitant energy prices in Europe, which is the leading region for cocoa processing, are likely to take a toll on the operations of cocoa processors, the ICCO claimed.