- 'Dark day': Victims mourned around the globe on Oct. 7 anniversary
- Mission to probe smashed asteroid launches despite hurricane
- Oil prices extend gains on Mideast tensions, Wall Street slips
- Europe's asteroid mission Hera launches despite hurricane
- Oil prices extend gains on Mideast tensions, Wall Street retreats
- What is microRNA? Nobel-winning discovery explained
- Weather may delay launch of mission to study deflected asteroid
- China to flesh out economic stimulus plans after bumper rally
- Asian markets track Wall St rally on US jobs data
- World marks anniversary of Oct. 7 attack on Israel
- Asian markets track Wall St rally on jobs data
- Cancer, cardiovascular drugs tipped for Nobel as prize week opens
- Tunisia incumbent Saied set to win presidential vote: exit polls
- 'Difficult day': Oct 7 commemorations begin with festival memorial
- Commemorations begin for anniversary of attack on Israel
- Tunisia voting ends as Saied eyes re-election with critics behind bars
- Drowned by hurricane, remote N.Carolina towns now struggle for water
- Two elephants die in flash flooding in northern Thailand
- Tunisia votes with Saied set for re-election
- Too hot by day, Dubai's floodlit beaches are packed at night
- A 'forgotten' valley in storm-hit North Carolina, desperate for help
- Italy targets climate activists in 'anti-Gandhi' demo clampdown
- US trade chief defends tariff hikes when paired with investment
- EU court blocks French ban on vegetable 'steak' labelling
- Meta AI turns pictures into videos with sound
- US dockworkers return to ports after three-day strike
- DR Congo to begin mpox vaccination campaign Saturday in east
- Meta must limit data use for targeted ads: EU court
- Oil extends gains, jobs report lifts Wall Street
- US hiring soars past expectations in sign of resilient market
- As EU targets Chinese cars, European rivals sputter
- Top EU court finds against FIFA in key transfer market ruling
- Oil extends gains, Hong Kong stocks resume rally
- 'A man provides': Ukrainian miners send families away as Russia advances
- EU states greenlight extra tariffs on EVs from China
- Hong Kong stocks resume rally, oil dips after Middle East-fuelled surge
- Crude stable after Israel-Iran surge, Hong Kong stocks resume gains
- Hera spacecraft to probe asteroid deflected by defence test
- US dockworkers to head back to work after tentative deal
- After Helene's destruction, North Carolina starts to rebuild
- Dockers end three-day strike at Montreal port
- What next for OpenAI after $157 billion bonanza?
- Israel-Hamas war causes 86-percent dive in Gaza GDP: IMF
- Milan's Morata moves house after Inter-fan town mayor 'violates' privacy
- 'Devastating' storm hits Augusta National but Masters will go on
- Relief in Brazil, Asia over delay to EU deforestation rules
- Oil prices jump, stocks fall on Middle East tensions
- Biden says 'discussing' possible Israeli strikes on Iran oil facilities
- Oil prices rise, stocks fall on Middle East tensions
- Oil rallies, stocks mostly retreat on Middle East tensions
RBGPF | -1.97% | 58.94 | $ | |
RYCEF | -1.45% | 6.88 | $ | |
CMSC | -0.53% | 24.57 | $ | |
GSK | -0.49% | 38.63 | $ | |
RIO | -0.11% | 69.62 | $ | |
BP | 0.78% | 33.14 | $ | |
BTI | -0.26% | 35.2 | $ | |
AZN | -0.78% | 76.87 | $ | |
NGG | -1.56% | 65.48 | $ | |
VOD | 0.31% | 9.69 | $ | |
RELX | -0.54% | 46.04 | $ | |
BCC | 1.68% | 141.27 | $ | |
SCS | -0.15% | 12.95 | $ | |
JRI | -0.76% | 13.18 | $ | |
CMSD | -0.09% | 24.79 | $ | |
BCE | -0.54% | 33.53 | $ |
Ivory Coast, Ghana throw down gauntlet on cocoa price
The world's chocolate industry could be in for a turbulent ride as the two biggest cocoa producers set down demands for manufacturers to pay higher prices for their growers.
The quarrel focuses on the Living Income Differential (LID) -- a policy that Ivory Coast and Ghana introduced in 2019 to fight poverty among cocoa farmers in the global $130-billion chocolate market.
Under it, Ivory Coast and Ghana vowed to charge a premium of $400 per tonne on all cocoa sales, starting with the 2020/21 harvest.
But trade boards in the countries -- the Ivorian Coffee-Cocoa Council (CCC) and the Ghana Cocoa Board (Cocobod) -- say the scheme is being undermined as cocoa traders depress the price of another premium that operates in parallel.
"We've introduced the Living Income Differential as a means of improving the farmer income," said Fiifi Boafo, Cocobod's spokesperson.
"You have these companies circumventing these processes to ensure that the Living Income Differential effect is not felt in (their) lives."
The two countries together account for 60 percent of the world's cocoa but their farmers earn less than six percent of the industry's global revenue.
They boycotted a bridge-building meeting in Brussels late last month and set November 20 as a deadline for bringing buyers into line.
They are threatening to punish corporations by barring them from visiting plantations to estimate harvests -- a key factor in cocoa price forecasting.
They are also threatening to suspend sustainability programmes that chocolate giants use to enhance their image with fast-growing ethnic consumers.
"This boycott and also ultimatum is to draw attention to the fact that inasmuch as it is important for us to talk about deforestation, it is important to talk about child labour, it is equally important to talk about the farmer income," said Boafo.
- Premium pressure -
The LID premium is being completed by a price stabilisation fund to help buffer the international price of cocoa in the event of big market fluctuations.
Some experts say the chocolate giants have factored the LID into their costs but claw back some of this by exerting pressure on another premium based on the quality of cocoa beans.
This premium, known as the origin differential, has plunged below zero in recent years, effectively cancelling out part of the LID.
Covid is being used as "a pretext not to pay," CCC President Yves Brahima Kone told AFP. "The thing is, the multinationals have increased their profits -- they are able to pay."
The World Cocoa Foundation, an umbrella group of public entities and corporations aimed at supporting sustainability in the sector, declined to comment on the faceoff.
Among corporations, Nestle said it strongly backed efforts for growers to maintain a decent standard of living and had been paying the LID since its inception.
Some experts say that time may weigh against Ivory Coast and Ghana if the row escalates.
Virtually all of Ivory Coast's crop is purchased by roughly half a dozen majors. Of this, around 80 percent heads to Europe, the wealthy market where sustainability factors -- environmental and labour criteria -- count most for consumers.
"Ivory Coast's economy is heavily dependent on cocoa income," said one specialist. "It needs to sell its beans."
"Stopping sustainability programmes is difficult to explain to the general public, and Ivory Coast's image could (also) suffer."
M.Anderson--CPN