Ivory Coast Raises Cocoa Export Premiums as Harvest Risks Cloud Outlook

June 3, 2026

Mintesinot Nigussie

Cocoa buyers seeking future supplies from Ivory Coast are facing higher contract premiums as authorities in the world’s largest producer adopt a more guarded approach to forward sales amid uncertainty over next season’s harvest.

The Coffee and Cocoa Council (CCC), the country’s cocoa regulator based in Abidjan, has slowed additional sales for the 2026/27 season after already securing export agreements covering about one million metric tons for the main crop due to begin in September 2026.

Under the revised approach, exporters are being asked to pay a minimum premium of £100 per ton above benchmark futures prices for new contracts, reflecting tightening market conditions and continued demand from global chocolate manufacturers and commodity traders.

The regulator’s stance comes as weather forecasts increasingly point to the possible emergence of El Niño conditions in the coming months, raising concerns over rainfall patterns across major cocoa-producing areas in West and Central Africa.

Forecasters have warned that Ivory Coast, Ghana, Cameroon and Nigeria could face drier conditions if the weather pattern intensifies during the middle of the year, particularly during the June and July growing period that is considered critical for crop development.

Industry participants say unusually high temperatures recorded during the first five months of the year have already added pressure on cocoa farms, although recent rainfall has improved conditions in several producing regions.