Ivory Coast to raise cocoa farmgate price

ABIDJAN, Mar 31 (Reuters): Ivory Coast's President Alassane Ouattara will increase the official cocoa farmgate price to 1,500 CFA francs ($2.47) per kg from Tuesday from the current 1,000 CFA, sources at five different export companies said.

The sources, who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, said they were citing a decision at a government meeting on Saturday.

Earlier in the day, Ouattara had validated a proposal for a price of between 1,100 and 1,200 CFA francs per kg before reversing his decision and asking that the price be even higher, the sources said.

The government and the cocoa regulator the Coffee and Cocoa Council (CCC) could not be reached for comment on Sunday.

Cocoa prices have more than tripled over the last year as disease and adverse weather pushed the global market to a third successive deficit, but the official farmgate price that growers can charge for their beans in Ivory Coast, a top producer, has yet to reflect this.