COCOBOD refutes claims of cocoa forward sales
The Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) has refuted claims made by the Minority in Parliament accusing the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of COCOBOD of overselling cocoa forward sales.
In a statement issued in Accra, COCOBOD clarified that allocating 338,600 metric tonnes of cocoa as a guarantee for the syndicated loan did not imply exclusive sales at spot prices, dismissing the accusation as false.
COCOBOD explained that forward sales serve the dual purpose of securing syndicated loans and strategically managing cocoa stocks. The statement emphasized that, at the time of determining the producer price for the 2023/24 season, a substantial portion of cocoa had been sold based on these strategic reasons.
Therefore, the CEO’s statement was accurate and should not be deemed a falsehood.
The statement highlighted that COCOBOD employs a diversified approach to cocoa sales, incorporating forward, spot, and prepayment strategies based on market dynamics, funding, and collateral requirements.
This diversified strategy aims at price risk mitigation and effective stock management.
COCOBOD assured stakeholders that, if the final average achieved price surpasses the $2,600 used by the Producer Price Review Committee (PPRC) in determining the current producer price of cocoa, due consideration will be given to address the concerns in favor of the farmers.
The statement concluded by reiterating COCOBOD’s commitment to ensuring a transparent and fair cocoa production and trading environment.
