Ghana's graded and sealed cocoa arrivals have dropped around 51% in the 2023/24 season from a year earlier, official figures showed, as exporters and analysts said output was far lower than they had expected.
Graded and sealed (G&S) is cocoa that has been quality checked and sealed in bags by marketing board Cocobod and is ready to be shipped.
Ghana's G&S arrivals stood at 189,470 metric tonnes by 23 November since the start of the harvest on 8 September, down from 383,496 tonnes in same period last season, Cocobod figures showed.
Ghana and neighbouring Ivory Coast, the world's biggest cocoa producer, are expecting one of their smallest crops in years due mainly to poor weather. London cocoa futures hit a record high last week due to the supply squeeze.
In Ivory Coast, cocoa port arrivals were down 35% year-on-year by 3 December.
"The situation in Ghana is even worse than in Ivory Coast and we are all very worried about this situation," said an analyst based in London who asked not to be identified.
Production Outlook
Cocobod has officially forecast production of about 800,000 tonnes for the 2023/24 season, but industry sources said they estimate the harvest will be closer to 600,000 tonnes.
"Arrivals in Ghana this year are the worst we have ever seen," said the director of an export company based in the country.
"With such a drop in production for the main crop, I don't know how we will be able to make up for it during this season."
The director of another international company based in Ghana said he expected some exporters would have difficulty fulfilling their contracts before the end of the season.
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