Nigeria’s Cocoa Production to Drop in 2019 Says ICCO

• Nigeria’s Cocoa Production to Drop in 2019 Says ICCO

The International Cocoa Association (ICCO) has predicted that Nigeria’s cocoa production will decline by 10,000 metric tonnes (MT) to 245,000MT in 2018/2019 season, down from 255,000MT filed in the 2017/2018 season.

This, the Association attributed to the unfavourable weather conditions that pushed contract prices to US$2,318 per tonne in London, up from US$2,083 per tonne. In New York, prices rose from US$2,178 per tonne to US$2,322 per tonne.

Côte d’Ivoire is expected to top its 2016/2017 record production at 2.02 million tonnes.

According to ICCO, the country has already produced 1.587 million tonnes as at 10th March 2019, higher than the 1.441 million tonnes recorded during the same period last season.

In Ghana, production is expected to remain stable despite headwinds, as the country continues with the implementation of its Production Enhancement Programmes (PEP).

Cocoa production, however, is projected to increase by 1.9 percent to 981,000 tonnes in Africa in 2018/19 season.