Cocoa Breaking News

Ivory Coast Restricts Cocoa Transport Permits to Ease Port Congestion and Support Prices

Cocoa Intel

02 Dec 2025 — 1 min read

Ivory Coast Restricts Cocoa Transport Permits to Ease Port Congestion and Support Prices

Ivory Coast’s cocoa regulator, the Coffee and Cocoa Council (CCC), has moved to sharply limit the issuance of transport permits for cocoa deliveries to the ports of Abidjan and San Pedro. The decision was announced Tuesday by CCC Managing Director Kone. He aimed at easing port congestion, stabilizing the flow of beans, and ensuring farmers receive the guaranteed farmgate price.

Regulator Moves to Counter “False Oversupply” Perception

Long queues at exporters’ factories early in the season created the impression that cocoa production was running far ahead of expectations. This perception weighed heavily on farmgate prices, pushing them below the guaranteed minimum of 2,500 CFA francs per kilogram to as low as 2,080 CFA francs in October and November.

To counter this, the CCC will now issue permits strictly based on each factory’s capacity to unload trucks.
For example, a factory capable of unloading 10 trucks per day will be authorized to receive just 16 trucks per day—curtailing excessive deliveries that contribute to bottlenecks and distort market expectations.

According to Kone, this targeted transport control has significantly reduced port congestion, improved market efficiency, and shortened sales delays that previously forced farmers to accept discounted prices or wait weeks for payment.

Peak Harvest Season Amplifies the Impact

“December is peak production season, and timely action has already improved conditions since the last week of November,” Kone said.

The CCC is also grappling with broader concerns: declining national output. Cocoa arrivals for the 2025/26 harvest are already trending lower, and the regulator now projects only 1.3 million tons for the current season—down from 1.7 million tons just three years ago.

Kone underscored that production levels are unlikely to recover soon, citing the significant investment needed to rehabilitate aging cocoa orchards and restore yields that have been falling since 2022.

Despite these challenges, the regulator remains confident in the long-term outlook for the industry.

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