I. Coast, Ghana Ease Tug-of-war With Buyers Over Cocoa Prices

I. Coast, Ghana ease tug-of-war with buyers over cocoa prices

Ivory Coast and Ghana, the world's two biggest cocoa producers, said Monday there had been progress towards resolving a tug-of-war with chocolate giants on prices

Abidjan, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 21st Nov, 2022 ) :Ivory Coast and Ghana, the world's two biggest cocoa producers, said Monday there had been progress towards resolving a tug-of-war with chocolate giants on prices.

The two countries had set a deadline of Sunday for manufacturers to pay higher prices to their growers.

But in a joint statement, industry bodies said the talks had yielded agreement to set up a working group to explore the problems, and report back early next year.

The producer countries also praised "the efforts made by certain companies" to find a solution for sustainable farming, the statement said.

The quarrel focuses on the Living Income Differential (LID) -- a policy Ivory Coast and Ghana introduced in 2019 to fight poverty among cocoa farmers in the global $130-billion chocolate market.

Under it, Ivory Coast and Ghana vowed to charge a premium of $400 per tonne on all sales of cocoa beans, starting with the 2020/21 harvest.

But their trade boards say the scheme is being undercut by buyers who depress the price of another premium based on bean quality.

They have accused purchasers of clawing back the cost of the LID by exerting pressure on the "origin differential" premium, which has plunged below zero in recent years.

They set November 20 as a deadline for bringing buyers into line.

They threatened to punish corporations by barring them from visiting plantations to estimate harvests -- a key factor in cocoa price forecasting.

And they also threatened to suspend sustainability programmes that chocolate giants use to enhance their image given the increasing ethical concerns of consumers.