Ghana has not failed to secure buyer for 2020/21 cocoa beans – COCOBOD replies Bloomberg

Management of Ghana Cocoa Board and its subsidiary the Cocoa Marketing Company (CMC) Limited have denied media reports suggesting that Cocobod failed to secure a buyer for its 2020/21 cocoa beans.

The world’s second-largest cocoa producer offered to sell beans for the first time since introducing a surcharge, and found no buyers, Bloomberg said in a report last Friday.

Bloomberg reported some traders and analysts have expressed skepticism over the new pricing mechanism, saying buyers would probably hold back purchases and turn to supplies from other countries and the London exchange first.

But Cocobod in its statement asked the public to disregard the report by Bloomberg and same circulating in the media that it’s struggling to find a buyer.

“The Management of Ghana Cocoa Board and its subsidiary Cocoa Marketing Company (CMC) Limited have observed with worry the inaccurate interpretation and publication by Bloomberg and other media house on the sale of Ghana’s beans.

“We, therefore, entreat all to disregard the news about Ghana’s beans not finding a buyer which seems to fall in line with a certain negative narrative of a challenge in the implementation of well-understood trading mechanism.

“We wish to assure Ghanaian farmers and all stakeholders that the new mechanism has been understood to be the official trading system, and we shall sell at a price for the benefit of our farmers and the sustainability of the cocoa industry.”

Ivory Coast and Ghana have taken unprecedented steps to exert more control over cocoa markets. The nations this week suspended a ban on sales of the 2020-21 crop after reaching an agreement over the new pricing mechanism.

Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire last week lifted the suspension of the sale of 2020/21 cocoa beans after officially announcing the new trading mechanism for the sale of cocoa.