Price of cocoa beans in Nigeria has increased by 733 per cent between January and December 2024 from N1.8 million to N15 million, as the global price continues to surge over poor weather and diseases.
Also, as at December 21, 2024, the price of the bean per metric tonne was N19.6 million ($11,900) in the global market.
In January this year, certified cocoa was traded at $3,889 per metric tonne in the Southwest; February, the spot price rose to $4,841, $6,443 and $6,866 respectively.
By March, prices of the bean escalated to $9,828, April, price was $12,216 before it nose dived to $9,082 in early November and increased to $11,900 in December.
According to the International Cocoa Organisation (ICCO), cocoa bean stocks level at the London exchange from the beginning to end of November 2024 decreased by 20 per cent from 26,010 tonnes to 20,770 tonnes.
In the United States, exchange stocks dropped by 11 per cent from 114,197 tonnes to 101,639 tonnes over the same time frame.
ICCO noted that with regard to the nearby December 2024 contract, in November, London prices increased by 33 per cent as compared to 12 per cent for the 2023/24 season, saying that in New York, in November 2024, prices increased by 26 per cent as compared to 17 per cent in November 2023.
Worried over inadequate production and low export, on August 30, ICCO raised its 2023/24 global cocoa deficit estimate to -462,000 tonnes from May’s -439,000 tonnes, the largest deficit in over 60 years.
Also, ICCO cut its 2023/24 cocoa production estimate to 4.330 million tonnes from May’s 4.461 million tonnes. In the first quarter of the year, importers entertained the fear that Nigeria may lose N876 billion in earnings in 2023/24 export because of weather and fungi.
Meanwhile, the Executive Director at Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria (CRIN), Patrick Adebola, had attributed the sharp increase in the price of produce to the outbreak of the disease in Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana, which were the leading producers of cocoa in the world.
According to him, this situation had led to about 40 per cent loss of the crop in the two countries, noting that Cote D’Voire was the largest producer of cocoa, producing about two million metric tonnes, followed by Ghana with 900,000 metric tonnes and Nigeria with 300,000 tonnes.
The executive director explained: “The country has the potential to become the highest producer of cocoa and boost its foreign exchange earnings if adequate attention is given to the sector by the government.
“I believe that the current administration of President Bola Tinubu is doing the right thing because I can see a lot of improvements in terms of support to farmers.
That support should reach the right farmers and not the political farmers. As of January 2024, a tonne of Cocoa used to sell for N1.8 million, the price has risen to about N15 million per tonne.”
Adebola said that 22 states of the federation including South-West, South-South, South-East, Adamawa and Taraba have good soil to grow cocoa profitably.
Recall that the Cocoa Association of Nigeria (CAN) had said that cocoa is widely produced in Oyo, Ondo, Ekiti and Ogun states which account for 70 per cent of Nigeria’s annual production.
Also, the Cocoa Farmers Association of Nigeria (CFAN) had forecast that it would increase production in the country to 500,000 metric tonnes in 2024 but bad weather has affected the projection.
It was gathered that if the production was achieved, the country’s farmers and exporters could have earned $5.95 billion this year.
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