Ivory Coast’s Unsold Cocoa Stocks Could Surge as Price Dispute Drags On

Ivory Coast is on track to accumulate roughly 200,000 metric tons of unsold cocoa by the end of next month if the ongoing price standoff between the government and international buyers is not resolved, according to industry sources.

The dispute centers on the state’s farmgate pricing mechanism and its resistance to adjusting export differentials despite a significant correction in global cocoa futures. As international prices have retreated from recent highs, exporters and grinders are reportedly unwilling to purchase forward volumes at levels they consider disconnected from prevailing market conditions. The result is a bottleneck: cocoa is available domestically, but sales to global traders are stalling.