Surge in cocoa prices prompts Ecuador to boost output

BRUSSELS, Apr 25 (Reuters): Ecuador's annual cocoa production is on course to hit 500,000 tonnes in the next two years, potentially overtaking Ghana as the world's second-largest grower, the head of Ecuador's cocoa exporters association said.

Merlyn Casanova, Anecacao's executive director, told Reuters at the World Cocoa Conference in Brussels that the blistering world cocoa price rally had prompted Ecuadorian farmers to invest heavily in their plots.

World cocoa prices have nearly tripled in the past six months after adverse weather and disease slashed output in Ivory Coast and Ghana, who together produce about 60% of the world's cocoa.

Ecuador, currently the world's third largest cocoa grower, is on course to produce 437,000 tonne this season versus 413,000 last.

Casanova noted that Ecuadorian cocoa farmers receive between 80-90% of the world price. This compares favourably with Ivory Coast and Ghana, where farmers receive at best 60-70% of the world price, and are currently being offered much less than that.