Cocoa arrivals at official Ghanaian warehouses neared 550,000 metric tonnes by end-January, putting the world's No. 2 producer within reach of its output target for this season, said a source with access to data from sector regulator Cocobod.
According to the source, Ghana's graded and sealed cocoa arrivals reached 542,223 tonnes as of 30 January. Cocobod has an output target of 650,000 tonnes for the 2024/25 season, which runs till end-September.
The sector regulator declined to comment.
Ghana recorded its worst cocoa season in two decades in 2023/24, with production reaching just 480,000 tonnes, according to the International Cocoa Organisation.
"More cocoa is coming, we see it from our purchases. The weather has been good this season," said Samuel Adimado, president of the Licensed Cocoa Buyers Association of Ghana (LICOBAG).
Three Europe-based cocoa traders told Reuters they had heard Ghana's G&S cocoa arrivals had reached about 550,000 tonnes by mid-January, but cautioned the crop was heavily front-loaded and arrivals could well decline going forward.
Quality Check
G&S is cocoa that has been quality checked and sealed in bags by regulator Cocobod and is ready to be shipped.
Although the cocoa crop development phase in West Africa was helped by benign weather this season, recent Harmattan winds have been extremely harsh, two of the traders said.
They are hopeful overall, however, that supply tightness will be alleviated this season, with output in top producer Ivory Coast having also improved and consumption of the chocolate ingredient expected to fall sharply in response to high prices.
Cocoa LCCc2 was one of the best performing commodities last year, gaining nearly 160% as adverse weather, tree disease and smuggling in Ghana and Ivory Coast pushed the global market into a third successive deficit.
