COCOBOD – Michael Niemann

October 8, 2010

Ghana Increases Producer Prices

With the new cocoa season underway, Ghana’s Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) announced a 33 percent increase in farm gate prices. The new price of GH¢200 per bag lifts the per ton price to GH¢3,200 ($2,238) from last year’s GH2,400. The new prices recognizes the increases in the world market price over the past year.

More importantly, however, it recognizes the prevalence of smuggling which has cut into Ghana’s exports. With some estimates as high as 100,000 tons smuggled to the Côte d’Ivoire last year alone, stopping this outflow has become a top priority of the COCOBOD. Last year’s harvest amounted to 632,024 tons, 10 percent below the 700,000 tons of the 2008/2009 cocoa year.

COCOBOD seems hopeful that the price increase will lift this years total exports above the 700,000 ton level.

November 18, 2009

More Bonuses for Ghanaian Cocoa Farmers

COCOBOD, the Ghanaian cocoa board, has announced another round of bonuses for cocoa farmers. This time, the total bonus amounts to GH¢25,369,862.50 ($17,887,263). That translates to $1.76 per bag of cocoa. As usual, the monies will be distributed to the 26 licensed buying companies which will then distribute funds to the farmers on the basis of their past deliveries. Also as usual, the COCOBOD advised the LBCs not to pocket the money.

April 2, 2009

At the San Antonio Buying Depot

The Toledo Cocoa Growers Association (TCGA) maintains three buying depots. One at its headquarters in Punta Gorda, one in San Antonio and one in Mayamopan. Each depot received beans that have been fermented and dried. The TCGA specs are straightforward–box fermentation for six days with bean turn-over every two days and then sun drying until the beans reach the proper residual moisture, generally six days as well.

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September 5, 2008

Higher Prices for Ghana’s Cocoa farmers

Reuters reported today that Ghana’s Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) has decided to increase the farm gate price for the next cocoa year from 1,200 cedis ($1,090) to 1,632 cedis ($1,384) per ton. This is welcome news for cocoa farmers all over Ghana who have been complaining about the low prices offered by COCOBOD during the last season.

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September 3, 2008

Ghana Secures Financing for 2008/09 Cocoa Season

The Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) has just signed a $1 billion financing deal with a syndicate of international banks to finance cocoa buying for the 2008/09 cocoa season. The bank consortium includes both European and Japanese banks and is believed to be the largest soft commodity financing deal ever.

Readers of this blog will recall my analysis of financial flows that make the Kuapa Kokoo cooperative work (April 16th). The flow chart showed that the cooperative, as a licensed cocoa buyer, reports its anticipated target capacity to COCOBOD and then receives (as loans) the necessary funds to cover the buying of the cocoa from the farmers.

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