Ivory Coast to maintain reduced cocoa farmgate price for 2026/27 season

This information comes from four industry sources and two government sources who spoke to Reuters on Friday. The West African nation had previously paid farmers a record 2,800 FCFA per kilogram at the start of the 2025/26 season, before reducing the guaranteed price to 1,200 FCFA in March as global cocoa prices significantly declined from their historical peaks. This price falls at the lower end of the 1,200 to 1,500 FCFA range proposed by the regulator to the government.

This price range was based on the average of forward sales for the 2026/27 main crop season made by the regulator, the Conseil du Café-Cacao CCC, between March and June of this year, according to the sources. An Abidjan-based director of a European export company stated that the 1,200 FCFA price was more realistic, given the CCC's average sales. In early March, cocoa traded on global markets at approximately 2,100 pounds per metric ton, before slowly rising to about 3,800 pounds by the end of June, and has since surpassed 4,800 pounds.

Government sources indicated that the CCC, which must sell approximately 80% of the projected harvest in advance to set a fixed price for producers, was compelled to conclude contracts for over 1.1 million tons at low prices. A government source noted that maintaining the guaranteed price is the best and le