How did Ivory Coast and Ghana's cocoa sales crisis come about? - Reuters

<a href="https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiqAFBVV95cUxPY0JXZVlXTmVQMml5Z1JlUXRzc1FpU2lIMXBkdWhUVUJibHh0N3JsXy1SaVhYYl9uNVdwa19lckt3ODllQnA2c1VJclFoTnFXZ1FxU2ZfV2FEMGRrTXVFOTVDQl9OYm1vT0g4YUpra050X3VYNGpSQk9KTTZpS3JyMWtBXzd3aFVET2pobnpUVm5WVzVhdTE1WWZwZzNDQ25RVUNhaVctOGE?oc=5" target="_blank">How did Ivory Coast and Ghana's cocoa sales crisis come about?</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<font color="#6f6f6f">Reuters</font>

Ghana's licensed cocoa buyers are facing up to $750 million in debt to banks due to delayed payments from the regulator and falling global prices, leading to financial strain in the sector supplying half the world's cocoa.

Ivory Coast has resumed cocoa sales for the 2025/26 season after the Coffee and Cocoa Council adjusted its pricing structure, resolving a prolonged standoff with international buyers over uncompetitive farmgate prices amid a 50% drop in global cocoa prices.

A significant price divergence between Ghana and Ivory Coast has led to illegal cross-border cocoa trade, with Ghanaian beans flowing into Ivorian warehouses to fetch higher prices, amid a global market glut and changing consumer behavior.

Cocoa buying activity has resumed in Ivory Coast after the country’s regulator adjusted its pricing approach, bringing export offers back in line with international market levels, following months of tension between exporters and authorities over uncompetitive farmgate prices.

Ivory Coast has officially resumed cocoa sales after its regulator, the Conseil du Café-Cacao (CCC), abandoned the extra fees it had been charging international buyers, clearing the way for forward purchases of the upcoming mid-crop harvest and easing a standoff that left hundreds of thousands of tonnes of beans stranded in warehouses.