Ghana's cocoa regulator has set its official cocoa producer price at 3,200 cedis ($2,238) per tonne for the 2010/11 season, a third up on the 2009/10 level, Finance Minister Kwabena Duffuor confirmed on Tuesday. The move was intended to discourage smuggling of cocoa outside Ghana, Duffuor said, which officials say hit purchases during the 2009/10 season.
"The producer price review committee reviewed upwards the producer price from 2,400 cedis per tonne to 3,200 cedis per tonne," Duffuor told reporters. Sources informed of the decision had earlier told Reuters the price would rise to 3,200 cedis per tonne for the new cocoa season, due to start on October 1.
The world's No 2 cocoa grower has seen official purchases decline 12 percent in the 2009-10 season in part because prices were lower than in neighbouring countries Ivory Coast and Togo, fuelling rampant smuggling. "The fact that they have made the price more competitive is a positive sign for domestic supply, and should stop some cross-border smuggling," said Sudakshina Unnikrishnan, commodities analyst at Barclays Capital, adding she did not expect it to give rise to a surge in production. "It's supportive for domestic supply, but it's not a game-changer."
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